Neighborhood of the Week: Fourth & Gill

This week we're going just north of downtown to historic Fourth & Gill, a neighborhood steeped in history and rich in architecture. From the Fourth & Gill neighborhood website:

Historic Fourth & Gill is an excellent example of the neighborhoods that flourished in Knoxville during the last quarter of the 19th Century...

The Fourth and Gill area evolved into a tree lined streetcar suburb, made up of a series of separate subdivisions. These subdivisions were designed in a grid pattern with either narrow lots for greater density, or larger tracts more befitting the desires of the city's middle and upper classes. As the subdivision streets met each other, sometimes at odd angles, they formed an almost medieval street pattern. Although the size of the houses was fairly consistent within each area, the lot shapes often were not.

The architectural styles present in the Fourth and Gill Historic Overlay District are a good representation of the residential architecture popular in America between the 1880's and the 1940's...The Fourth and Gill Historic Overlay District features over 280 residential structures, including single family houses, duplexes, and apartment buildings. The district also contains one school and three churches. The houses are primarily of frame construction, with large porches and complex rooflines. Most of the masonry veneer and load bearing construction occurred in the 20th Century. Although a number of different styles exist in the Fourth and Gill Historic Overlay District, the majority are Queen Anne and Craftsmen styles.

Many of the houses were designed by some of Knoxville's most notable architects, including George F. Barber and Joseph Bauman...Historically the area was made up of a varied group of people. Professionals and laborers, families and transients, blacks and whites all lived in close proximity to one another. The neighborhood was home to merchants, mayors and a governor, Robert L. Taylor.

Knoxville annexed the City of North Knoxville in 1897, around the time the automobile was invented. With the decline of the American economy, and Knoxville’s economy, in the late 1920'sd and 1930’s, many of the larger single family residences were converted to duplexes to supplement the income of the property's owners. The real decline of the neighborhood began in force after World War II, when returning soldiers and their families sought new lifestyles in the brand new auto-oriented suburbs. More single family residences were converted into multiple units or small apartments, in part to meet the demands of the growing student body of the University of Tennessee.

Within the last two decades the neighborhood has begun to reclaim much of its former glory. The district's name reflects this effort, being derived from the location of a converted house that serves as the neighborhood center. Owners who could foresee the positive social value of cooperative inner city living have attractively restored many distressed properties to comfortable, modern standards. The Historic Fourth and Gill Neighborhood has a proud past and an equally illustrious future.

Fourth & Gill is just a hop, skip and a jump from downtown and the UT campus and is (normally) easily accessible by I-40 or Broadway. For veggies and organic foodies, the Three Rivers Market is located just across the way on Broadway.

Here's Fourth & Gill by the numbers-

Historic Fourth & Gill*

Current On-Market Listings - 2
Average Asking Price: $262,400
Median Asking Price: NA
Most Expensive: $279,900 (4 BR, 3 1/2 BA, approx 2700 sq ft, 80% renovated)
Least Expensive: $244,900 (3 BR, 2 BA, approx 2100 sq ft renovated Victorian)

Current Pending Sales -1
Average Asking Price: $299,900
Median Asking Price: NA

Closed Sales - Q1 2007 - 5
Average Sales Price - $176,180
Median Sales Price - $155,000
Average Days on Market - 38

Closed Sales - Q1 2008 - 2
Average Sales Price - $220,625
Median Sales Price - NA
Average Days on Market - 39

*Data taken from KAARMLS on 5/05/08 does not include adjacent subdivisions, condos, PUDS, or multi-family units.

As always, if you want any more information about any of these properties just give me a shout.

Think your neighborhood should be a AAKT Neighborhood of the Week? Tell me all about it in the comments.