University of Tennessee president emeritus Joe Johnson says he would like to make final recommendations on the future of the Eugenia Williams mansion by the end of this year.
Johnson is heading a committee to review possible uses and recommend what to do with the 24-acre property and 10,000 square foot home. The prime piece of real estate on Lyons View Pike was donated to the University of Tennessee when owner Eugenia Williams died in 1998.
"For about 20 years it has sat there, and we've been trying to figure out what we're going to do with it," said Johnson. "There were lots of ideas explored, but they all fell through for various reasons. Because I was the president in 1998 when UT accepted the property, president DiPietro asked me to head a committee to give him the best recommendations on how to use it."
Johnson may have approved UT accepting the deeded property as a gift, but the negotiations were conducted by prior UT president Ed Boling.
"Ed Boling spoke to Ms. Williams and asked her to consider donating it. Back then, UT provided a house for the president on Cherokee Boulevard. Ed Boling thought the Williams home could be used as the president's residence and the property on Cherokee could house the chancellor, something along those lines," said Johnson.
In the early 2000s, after UT had accepted the property, the Board of Trustees changed the university's policies to no longer provide housing to chancellors and presidents. The decision came after a scandal over UT president John Shumaker was forced to resign for misusing university funds, including exorbitant spending on renovations and remodeling of the residence on Cherokee Boulevard.
"The purpose of the donation of the house went away, so we've not been able to figure out how to use it. It's 24 beautiful acres with a barn on it. You've got a house designed by a very fine architect. And what do you do with it? That's what we hope to finally answer. You've got neighbors and you need to think of that. And as one friend of mine said, you don't want to irritate a lot of people," laughed Johnson.
A committee made up of several university leaders, community members, and neighbors of the property have already met twice. The committee hired the U30 group for $86,500 to compile a complete report on possibilities for the property. That report will be completed within the coming months and the committee will then make its final recommendations to President DiPietro.
Johnson dispelled a long-held perception within the community that Williams stipulated the home cannot be demolished.
"The conditions of accepting the property were that it honor the father of Ms. Williams and that it be used for the benefit of the University of Tennessee. Interestingly, we could raze it if we wanted to. There is nothing that says we must keep the home. However, I don't want to imply that is ever our intention to tear it down. I'm just explaining what the will actually says. It is an incredibly generous gift and we want to use the home," said Johnson.
Johnson said the project is personally important to him because he has worked for decades to raise funds and solicit gifts for the University of Tennessee. He thinks it is important to maintain the trust of those willing to donate.
"This lady gave 24 acres on the river with a large house, uniquely designed by one of the preeminent residential architects in the nation. It is a valuable piece of property. Where else on Lyons View will you find 24 acres? I think we the university owe to Ms. Williams to figure out a use for that property for which UT would be proud and the community would be proud."
While the property at 4848 Lyons View Drive has been commonly referred to as the Eugenia Williams House in the last 20 years, when it was left to the University of Tennessee the residence was designated the "Dr. David Hitt Williams Memorial."
Eugenia Williams History
Eugenia Williams was the daughter of a Knoxville physician, Dr. David H. Williams, who helped fund a new corporation for the Roddy family in 1902. The business was a soft drink franchise for a fizzy concoction called Coca-Cola. The brand became an international juggernaut and generated great wealth for the already well-to-do Williams family.
Eugenia Williams had financial security, but her family life was filled with tragedy. When Eugenia Williams was 7, her 21-month-old sister Elizabeth died. Her mother, Ella Williams, died when Eugenia was 14. Her only remaining sibling, a 7-year-old brother named David, died two years later of rheumatic fever.
Williams married real estate agent Gordon Chandler, but the marriage did not last. She never remarried and never had children.
Her father was reportedly concerned an unscrupulous spouse may try to marry Eugenia for her inheritance, according to Knoxville News Sentinel reports in the first half of the 20th century. Dr. Williams included stipulations in his will that Eugenia would receive all income from the estate. If she died without children, the Coca-Cola holdings would be divided between the National Geographic Society and the Roddy family. This would seemingly guarantee no husband would receive her wealth upon her death, but financial security would be guaranteed to any grandchildren.
Dr. Williams died in 1929. The National Geographic Society sued Eugenia for income from her father's stocks because she did not have children. It took 40 years for the court battle to end in her favor and the National Geographic Society was forced to pay her court costs.
Eugenia Williams lived an extremely private life. She built her dream home on Lyons View Pike in 1940 with a large brick wall at the road. Despite owning property perched along the river, she preferred tall trees between the home and water to protect her privacy.
The home was designed by a childhood acquaintance, John Staub of Knoxville. Staub became one of the nation's foremost residential architects and decorated homes for the elite in Houston and Dallas. The home for Eugenia Williams was one of the first two houses he ever designed.
Williams lived a mostly reclusive life at her home on Lyons View. She lived her last dozen years at St. Mary's hospital, one of only three people to have ever permanently resided there, and enjoyed interacting with the Sisters. She died in February 1998 and was buried in Old Gray Cemetery.
