The Knoxville News-Sentinel from Knoxville, Tennessee • 29

I vnwn Tuesday March 8 1983 rim mm n-nn i mipn News-SentinelWEST Phone Number 521-8133 Mabry House Falls but Legacy Remains By KIM BOATMAN (Mn OTimr Neglect and vandalism have taken their toll on one of West oldest homes The Mabry House however bequeathed more than memories to the Knoxville area it had been a part of since the mid -1840s The federal-style antebellum also known aS the old Pace House was located on Kingston Pike at Mabry Hood Road until its demolition last week Ironically like a human organ donor the Mabry demise may help salvage several other old homes in the Knoxville area Ray Thompson of Thompson Engineering and Coal Co the firm listed on county records as owner of the property and two adjacent parcels asked Kristopher Kendrick to save such fixtures as a three-story spiral staircase and the dentil molding around the kitchen ceiling Thompson was unavailable for comment on the fbture use of the property The site is presently zoned for single-family residential but is at a prime commercial location Basically we got the bulk of the interior architecture" Kendrick a local businessman involved in restoration said "It will be used in other projects things like Kendrick Place and the Cunningham and Stuart daces on Market Thompson was sensitive' enough to the architecture to ask me to save as much as I Although Kendrick works in renovation he usually deals with salvage companies after houses already have been dismantled This was his first attempt at a complete salvage operation son Kent supervised it It was definitely a major job it took about 10 Kendrick said "They were all basically custom-made things mantles doors windows anything The demolition process create the uproar it might have if the house had been in liveable condition It had not been occupied aince the late 1960s when The Tom Pace Jr family sold the property to Dr Robert Monfe It was sold to the engineering firm in 1974 Some of the interior woodwork had been tom off windows were broken and cracked me of the four columns which were added in the 1890s was missing For Tom Pace HI who spent his childhood in the home its demolition was almost a mercy killing a shame what happened to it almost a relief that it has been tom he said "The house had almost totally been destroyed Kids had broken into the house and tom it When family purchased the home from descendants of George Mabry the original builder in 1931 the house was also in a state of neglect was the word for what my family he said kept it in its original In addition to the staircase other prominent features of the 3500-square-foot house included 1 2-foot -high ceilings four working fireplaces hand-carved doors and woodwork a marble terrace ami bricks made on the site (probably by slaves) See MEMORIES Page D-2 Column missing from portico of tho Mabry House above shows deterioration of the old home before it was reduced to a pile of rubble below.