The Eugenia Williams House was a mystery – now it's starting to show its old glory

In March 2025, the Aslan Foundation will open a restored Eugenia Williams House to the public, transforming an object of mystery behind a brick wall on Lyons View Pike into a historic preservation site and arts and culture venue.

Architects and contractors are making only a few necessary changes to the mansion in a preservation project that stands out among its peers across the nation, said the foundation's executive director Andrea Bailey. The original windows, roof, woodwork, ironwork and appliances are being restored and reinstalled.

Crews have uncovered gardens and trails on the 24-acre property under decades of invasive plant growth. They have preserved the views from the home that Knoxville heiress Eugenia Williams herself once enjoyed, even as they installed the home's first air conditioning system and plan a new parking lot. The home will look much like it did when it was built in 1941.

The Knoxville-based Aslan Foundation purchased the property from the University of Tennessee in 2020, and selected local firm Sanders Pace Architecture, a frequent collaborator, as the lead architect. The property had been uninhabited since the 1980s and left untouched since the 1990s.

Though the house is no longer a private residence, it won't become a museum or community center. Instead, the foundation has selected nine cultural partners, including the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Big Ears Festival, that will be able to use the property for public programs.

Knox News got an exclusive tour to see how crews are restoring the home and preparing it for a new purpose.

"We're not time traveling and making it exactly what Eugenia had, but we're trying to preserve what was important at that moment while also allowing the building to serve a new purpose," said Brandon Pace, founding partner with Sanders Pace Architecture. "It's not a house anymore."

What work has been done on the Eugenia Williams House and grounds?

The Aslan Foundation selected Chicago-based Harboe Architects to create what executive director Andrea Bailey called a "photographic narrative" of the property's past, a 300-page report which also made preservation recommendations.

The preservation and restoration work on the property is split into three phases.

Exterior restoration began in spring 2022 and is nearly complete, Pace said. During this phase, crews removed the terra cotta tile roof to clean it and make repairs before reinstalling it. They also removed the home's original windows and sent them to a North Carolina company that specializes in historic window preservation. The original windows have been reinstalled.

Interior rehabilitation, the second phase, will wrap up by the end of the year. The term "rehabilitation" reflects the changes that will make the home a public space, especially new accessible restrooms. Bailey said the Eugenia Williams House project is unique because of how few changes will be made to the interior.

"Because we don't see this as a community center and we're not looking for a high volume of guests, we are able to not change very much about the house at all other than adding accessible restrooms," Bailey said. "We're able to keep the footprint of the house. We're able to respect the character of the house because it is such a beautiful architectural gem."

For the first time in its history, the Eugenia Williams House is flowing with cold air from a central cooling system, which workers installed by painstakingly removing segments of plaster wall. The Regency-style home, designed by Houston architect John Fanz Staub, was originally ventilated by fans in the attic.

Crews are in the process of stripping and repainting interior woodwork and exterior ironwork to their original form. Though the home had no furniture when the Aslan Foundation purchased it, Pace said it will be fully furnished by the time it reopens.

For Pace, the highlight of the project has been the "gorgeous" original hardware and designs in the home, high-tech for their time. One large window unlocks and slides away to reveal a screened window inlaid in the wall. A key-controlled gate opens into a three-car garage.

The kitchen still holds an original Seeger refrigerator that Pace said may have been among the first in Knoxville. The space will not be a functional kitchen, so any caterers for future events will prepare food off-site.

Original construction plans included a tiled terrace accessible through Eugenia Williams' bedroom, but the tile was never laid. Crews will finish the terrace as intended and add a glass handrail.

The next phase of work will prepare the grounds for guests. An ADA-accessible parking lot with around 40 spots will hug the brick wall at the front of the property to minimize its impact on views of the home. Visitors will be able to walk down the long driveway or take an accessible path around to the west end of the property.

Landscape architecture firm Reed Hilderbrand, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is leading efforts to enhance a system of trails and gardens on the property, some of which were uncovered when crews cleared overgrown invasive plants. One trail leads to the property's original stables, which will also be restored.

The Tennessee River is visible through a few clearings in the woods, though the Aslan Foundation is keeping most of the tree cover to preserve privacy.

"We have a couple of different priorities with this project," Bailey said. "First and foremost is definitely historic preservation, so we want whatever we do to be light on the property. We also, second, want it to be a cultural amenity, of course, and serve the public. And then third is that we also want to make sure that we're respecting the residential neighborhood that surrounds us."

Alcoa-based Hickory Construction is the lead contractor on the property.

Nine cultural partners will host events at Eugenia Williams House

The Aslan Foundation will extend its support of nine local cultural partners by allowing them to use the house as a satellite programming location free of charge. Those cultural partners are:

• Big Ears Festival

• Beck Cultural Exchange Center

• East Tennessee Historical Society

• Knox Heritage

• Knoxville Garden Club

• Knoxville History Project

• Knoxville Museum of Art

• Knoxville Opera

• Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

The property will not host large events or festivals. Bailey said many events hosted at the house will be free and open to the public, though it will depend on the partner.

While the home will be open for events, it won't be accessible at all times the grounds are open. The foundation is still working to establish the hours when the public will be able to visit the property, keeping in mind the primary goal of preserving the site.

The foundation has offered free monthly tours of the home during renovations, led by Jack Neely, executive director of the Knoxville History Project. Visitors can reserve a spot through the foundation's website, though Bailey said they fill up quickly.

Eugenia Williams House supports Aslan Foundation mission

Eugenia Williams was born in 1900 to David H. Williams, a local doctor who amassed wealth through Coca-Cola bottling. When she died in 1998, she gave her home to the University of Tennessee.

UT decided to sell the 24-acre property in 2019, and the Aslan Foundation was the highest bidder at $4.025 million. Proceeds from the sale established the UT Knoxville Promise Dr. David Hitt Williams Endowment, named for Ms. Williams' father.

The Aslan Foundation was established by Knoxville lawyer and philanthropist Lindsay Young in 1994 to support historic preservation, arts and culture and animal welfare through grants, public-private partnerships and preservation projects.

Its other projects include renovations to Augusta Quarry at Fort Dickerson Park, preservation of the Candoro Marble Building and the rehabilitation of South Knoxville log cabins into the award-winning Loghaven Artist Residency.

When it opens to the public in March 2025, the Eugenia Williams House will remain under the ownership of the Aslan Foundation, which self-funds projects through its endowment. A second-floor guest bedroom will become office space for the nonprofit.

Daniel Dassow is a reporting intern focusing on trending and business news. Phone 423-637-0878. Email daniel.dassow@knoxnews.com.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Eugenia Williams House restoration continues in Knoxville