Bearden Village
The historic community node near Kingston Pike, Northshore, and Forest Park.
Bearden · Knoxville, TN
Additions and remodels along Knoxville's oldest west-side corridor
Bearden pairs bungalow and mid-century streets with the busiest commercial spine in Knoxville. There is no design-review overlay here, so the work is straightforward zoning: blockface setbacks, coverage caps, and knowing where the residential district stops and the commercial one starts.
History & architecture
How Bearden was built
The area began as the agrarian settlement of Erin, established by Scots-Irish families in the late 1700s near Fourth Creek and the road that became Kingston Pike.
It was later renamed for Marcus DeLafayette Bearden, a former Knoxville mayor, and stayed largely agricultural through the 1800s.
Residential and commercial platting accelerated in the early-to-mid 1900s as streetcar and then automobile access pushed west along Kingston Pike; Bearden was annexed by the City of Knoxville in 1962.
The result is a layered building stock: 19th-century farmhouses, 1910s–40s bungalows and Colonial Revival houses, mid-century commercial buildings, and recent mixed-use infill on the corridor.
- Typical era
- 1910s–1960s, with newer corridor infill
- Dominant styles
- Craftsman bungalow, Colonial Revival, and post-war ranch
- Typical lot
- Modest in-town lots near the pike, larger on interior streets
- Review
- Permit-only — no historic or conservation overlay
Landmarks & shared spaces
Places that anchor Bearden
Fourth Creek
The waterway the original Erin settlement was built around.
Bearden school campuses
Long-standing community anchors that shape the surrounding street pattern.
Third Creek Greenway connections
Nearby paved greenway links running east toward the university and downtown.
Businesses & districts
Where Bearden gathers
Kingston Pike corridor
Knoxville's dominant retail and restaurant strip, from national chains to local boutiques.
Sutherland Avenue
Former industrial corridor now filling in with breweries, makers, and infill housing.
Bearden Village node
Small-business district that prompted a City-directed planning study for a walkable village zoning district.
Homberg Place
Compact shopping and dining cluster off Kingston Pike.
Zoning & overlays
Common zoning codes in Bearden
These are the base districts and overlays we see most often on Bearden lots. Always confirm your parcel's district and overlays on the Metro zoning map before design decisions get expensive.
RN-2Single-Family Residential Neighborhood
Common on Bearden's older residential blocks: 5,000 sq ft lots, front setback at 20 ft or the blockface average — whichever is less, never under 10 ft — 5 ft sides with 15 ft combined, 25 ft rear, 35 ft height, 30% coverage and 40% impervious.
RN-3General Residential Neighborhood
Medium-density blocks near the corridor, allowing two-family and attached houses: 10 ft or blockface-average front setback, 35% coverage and 45% impervious.
RN-1Single-Family Residential Neighborhood
The larger-lot interior streets: 10,000 sq ft minimum, 75 ft width, blockface-average front setback with a 25 ft floor, 30% coverage and 40% impervious.
Overlays that apply here
C
Commercial frontage along Kingston Pike and Sutherland
Lots facing the corridor are commercial or mixed-use rather than residential. Zoning can change mid-block here, so confirm the parcel on KGIS before assuming residential standards apply.
ADU
Accessory Dwelling Unit standards (Art. 10)
Allowed with size scaled to lot area — roughly 600 sq ft on a 5,000–7,000 sq ft lot, 800 sq ft up to 10,000, and 1,000 sq ft up to 20,000.
HP
Hillside Protection Overlay
Applies on the steeper slopes above the corridor and toward the river, limiting disturbance and adding grading detail.
Permitting path
- 1Verify the Recode district on KGIS — Knoxville replaced its old R-1/R-2 zoning with the EN and RN series in 2020, so older paperwork usually names a district that no longer exists.
- 2Measure the blockface average front setback early. In most Knoxville residential districts the required front yard is tied to the average of the existing homes on your block face, not a flat number.
- 3Check both caps: building coverage and total impervious surface. On an addition plus a driveway or patio, the impervious number is usually what runs out first.
- 4If the lot is steep or on a ridge, the Hillside Protection Overlay limits how much of the slope can be disturbed and adds grading and drainage detail to the submittal.
- 5ADUs follow Article 10 of the Recode code, with the maximum size scaled to lot area — about 600 sq ft on a small lot up to 1,200 sq ft on lots of 20,000 sq ft or more.
- 6There is no design review or Certificate of Appropriateness step outside the H-1 and NC-1 overlays; the permit is a zoning and building code review.
Why it matters
Bearden's place in Knoxville
One of Knoxville's oldest settled communities and now its busiest commercial corridor.
The gateway between downtown and the University and West Knoxville's suburbs.
An ongoing focus of city planning work aimed at making the village node walkable without erasing the residential streets behind it.
Events & festivals
What happens in Bearden
Dogwood Arts Trails (West)
April
The citywide spring trail routes run through Bearden-adjacent neighborhoods.
Corridor food and drink season
Spring–fall
Patio and event programming along Kingston Pike and Sutherland.
Designing here
What this means for your Bearden project
- No design review means the schedule is short: the constraints are the blockface-average front setback, the 15 ft combined side setback, and the coverage and impervious caps.
- Rear additions and screened porches are the standard project; on a 5,000 sq ft RN-2 lot the 30% coverage cap arrives quickly once a garage or patio is added.
- Bungalow attics here are worth converting before expanding the footprint — dormers on the rear slope buy bedrooms without touching coverage.
- Ranch houses on the interior streets take a rear primary-suite wing well, and the 25 ft rear setback usually sets its depth.
- If the lot backs onto or fronts the commercial corridor, verify the district line before design — the standards on either side of it are not close.
FAQ
Questions about Bearden
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