Knoxville, Tenn. (Vocus) September 29, 2009
When it was time to move into a home, Kevin Murphy recently worked with Farm Credit Services of Mid-America to secure a construction loan to be used to rebuild his family's 200+ year hold farmstead located in Knox County, Tennessee. The home is part of the Tennessee Century Farms Program which is run by the Center for Historic Preservation and honors and recognizes the dedication and contributions of families who have owned and farmed the same land for at least 100 years.
"I'm very fortunate in that my employment as an information security architect has allowed me to live wherever I want and work from home," said Murphy. "I've lived in a lot of different places here in the states and even spent about six months in Australia. I've thought a lot about where I really wanted to settle down, and finally decided that this old farm feels more like home than anyplace in the world."
Raised in Florida, Murphy came "home" to Knoxville every summer as a youngster to attend family reunions at an old home located on a farm homesteaded by his great-great-great-great grandfather, Robert Murphy, in 1797. The youngest of Robert's eleven children, Hugh, built a house on the farm (most likely for his new bride) around 1841, and both the farm and home have been in the family ever since.
Kevin originally thought he'd build a new house on the farm, located in eastern Knox County at the intersection of Washington Pike and Murphy Road. But after kicking the idea around, the self-described history buff decided instead to renovate the family's ancestral home, even though doing so would cost 30 to 50 percent more than tearing down and building anew.
"The house has a pretty unique architectural style, plus I have a lot of good memories associated with it," said Murphy. "Besides the reunions, I remember coming up every summer and spending time with my grandparents. It was always a nice place to go, with a tranquil back yard area, very pretty views, and nice old maple trees to sit under. It just seemed difficult to imagine doing something different on the property and not having that old house there."
Once Murphy had made the decision to renovate the old house, which he described architecturally as a Gothic revival cottage, complete with homey front porch and wraparound back porch, he also decided to spare no effort in doing it up right. He described the renovation process as a "sensitive rehabilitation," meaning that while there will be some changes and a degree of repurposing, the restoration process will be sensitive to the historical significance of the house, staying as close to the original character as possible.
Before the actual renovation could get rolling, Murphy had to obtain financing for his dream, but found traditional lending institutions to be skeptical.
"They wanted me to carve off a five-acre lot for the house, plus they didn't want to appraise the house for the value that it's actually going to cost to do the project," said Murphy. "But Derrick Sparkman of Farm Credit Services of Mid-America told me that FCS could look at the entire worth of the farm, which allowed them to say, 'Absolutely--you have enough collateral there.' Their Country Home Construction Loan Program is nice and flexible, and allowed them to make this project possible. I'm really not sure I could've done it without them."
Construction actually commenced in May, and is an intriguing blend of the best of 19th methods and 21st century technologies. The old foundation was replaced with a massive new one, including a six-foot crawl space. Plaster and lath were removed, exposing native, hand-hewn beams and framing. And before the drywall goes up, "all the wiring I'll need for the next 50 years" will be installed in the wall skeletons. An old boiler was removed to make way for geothermal heating and cooling, and a small wine cellar was also added.
Murphy has appreciated his working relationship with Farm Credit Services' Sparkman during the project, but the satisfaction is a shared one.
Renovation is currently slated to finish up in November. ("Thanksgiving would be really nice," said Murphy). When completed, the home will include four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and about 2,600 square feet of living space. What happens after that?
"I plan to own it and live there for a very long time," said Murphy. "I'm not married yet, but hopefully I will be some day, and I want to have kids. I want to be able to pass it on to them, and also let other members of my family enjoy it. And we want to keep having the reunions --to be able to relax, enjoy being with our relatives, catch up on each other, and enjoy cooking up some really good meals--things which have allowed us to continue having relationships with our extended family. People have said over the years, 'If the old house wasn't there, I'm not sure we'd try to make it to Knoxville for the family reunion every year.' This will keep extended branches of our family coming together for a long time."
To learn more about the Murphy Farm restoration project or to see photos, you may visit http://murphysprings.blogspot.com.
About Farm Credit Services of Mid-America
Farm Credit Services of Mid-America is a $15.5 billion financial services cooperative serving over 85,500 farmers, agribusinesses and rural residents in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee. The association provides loans for all farm and rural living purposes including real estate, operating equipment and housing and related services such as crop and life insurance, and vehicle equipment and building leases. For more information about Farm Credit, call 1-800-444-FARM or visit them on the web at http://www.e-farmcredit.com.
Contact: Randy Barbee
502-420-3756 or 502-494-5713 (cell)
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Thanksgiving would be really nice
