Ijams Nature Center and Mead's Quarry
The flagship preserve and the hub of the Urban Wilderness.
South Knoxville · Knoxville, TN
Bungalow remodels and hillside design across the river from downtown
South Knoxville covers Island Home, South Haven, Vestal, and the Urban Wilderness edge — bungalows and marble history on steep, wooded ground. Slope, floodplain, and the occasional historic overlay drive design more than anything else here.
History & architecture
How South Knoxville was built
The area developed across the Tennessee River from downtown through the 1800s and early 1900s, with marble quarrying giving Knoxville its Marble City nickname.
Island Home Park was laid out as a streetcar suburb in the early 1900s, marked by 1909 marble entrance pillars and built out with Craftsman bungalows in the 1910s and 20s.
South Haven traces to the mid-to-late 1800s around Mary James Park, and Vestal grew around the Candoro Marble Company, whose building is now an arts and heritage center.
The last fifteen years brought the Urban Wilderness trail network and the Sevier Avenue revival, which together shifted South Knoxville from overlooked to in demand — and brought a wave of renovation and infill with them.
- Typical era
- 1900s–1950s, with recent infill near Sevier Avenue
- Dominant styles
- Craftsman bungalow, modest cottages, and mid-century ranch
- Typical lot
- Compact older lots, often sloped or wooded
- Review
- Permit-only in most of the area; verify historic overlay parcel by parcel
Landmarks & shared spaces
Places that anchor South Knoxville
Knoxville's Urban Wilderness
Roughly 1,000 acres of parks, trails, and quarries formalized in the 2016 master plan.
Candoro Arts & Heritage Center
The former Candoro Marble Company building in Vestal, and the site of Vestival.
Mary James Park
South Haven's long-standing neighborhood green.
Island Home Park marble pillars
1909 gateway markers to the riverside streetcar suburb.
Businesses & districts
Where South Knoxville gathers
Sevier Avenue
The main bar and restaurant corridor, in the middle of a multi-year, $19 million streetscape rebuild begun in 2025.
Chapman Highway
The everyday commercial spine running south from the bridges.
South Waterfront
Emerging riverside mixed-use area directly opposite downtown.
Old Sevier merchants
The organized association of small businesses along the corridor.
Zoning & overlays
Common zoning codes in South Knoxville
These are the base districts and overlays we see most often on South Knoxville lots. Always confirm your parcel's district and overlays on the Metro zoning map before design decisions get expensive.
RN-2Single-Family Residential Neighborhood
The common district on the older bungalow blocks: 5,000 sq ft lots, 50 ft width, front setback at 20 ft or the blockface average — never under 10 ft — 5 ft sides with 15 ft combined, 25 ft rear, 35 ft height, 30% coverage and 40% impervious.
RN-1Single-Family Residential Neighborhood
Larger-lot streets on the hillsides: 10,000 sq ft minimum, blockface-average front setback with a 25 ft floor, 30% coverage and 40% impervious.
RN-3General Residential Neighborhood
Near Sevier Avenue and the waterfront, where two-family and attached houses are part of the pattern: 10 ft or blockface-average front setback, 35% coverage and 45% impervious.
Overlays that apply here
HP
Hillside Protection Overlay
South Knoxville is the most hillside-constrained part of the city. The overlay ties allowable disturbance to slope and requires grading, retaining wall, and drainage detail with the submittal.
F
Floodway / Floodplain Overlay
Applies along the Tennessee River and the creek drainages, setting lowest-floor elevation and triggering substantial-improvement rules on large remodels.
H-1
Historic overlay — parcel-specific
Portions of Island Home Park and individual landmark properties carry historic designation. Most of South Knoxville does not. Verify your parcel on KGIS rather than assuming from the neighborhood name.
ADU
Accessory Dwelling Unit standards (Art. 10)
Size scales with lot area, from about 600 sq ft on a small lot to 1,200 sq ft at 20,000 sq ft and above — a good fit for the deeper hillside lots.
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
South Knoxville's place in Knoxville
Home to the Urban Wilderness, one of Knoxville's defining quality-of-life and tourism assets.
The site of the city's most significant current commercial corridor investment, the Sevier Avenue streetscape.
The historic center of Knoxville's marble industry, which gave the city its Marble City name.
Events & festivals
What happens in South Knoxville
Vestival
Mother's Day weekend
Annual festival on the Candoro Marble Company grounds celebrating Vestal's heritage.
Big Fun Tuesdays at Mead's Quarry
First Tuesday, May–October
Evening riding, food trucks, and music at Ijams.
Ijams Hummingbird Festival
Mid-August
Long-running annual event at the nature center.
Dogwood Arts Festival
April
Citywide spring trails, including routes through the older south-side neighborhoods.
Designing here
What this means for your South Knoxville project
- Start with a slope analysis. On South Knoxville lots the hillside overlay, not the setbacks, usually determines where a footprint can land.
- A walk-out lower level is often the cheapest square footage on these lots and disturbs less ground than spreading the footprint sideways.
- Bungalow additions should carry the low roof pitch and deep eave to the rear; rear dormers get bedrooms out of the attic without changing the street elevation.
- Retaining walls, driveways, and terraces all count toward the impervious cap, which on a 5,000 sq ft RN-2 lot goes fast.
- Near the river, check the flood map before schematic design — substantial-improvement rules can turn a remodel into a full-compliance project.
FAQ
Questions about South Knoxville
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