Class Is Always in Session for the Couple That Calls This Renovated Knoxville School Home

Meet JoAnnie and Grant Tharp, the retired teacher and architect who bought and renovated a historic school building just outside Knoxville, Tennessee. Their professions influenced how they designed their home, and the end result was a functional schoolhouse home filled with bright colors, bold patterns and treasures from their many trips around the world.

JoAnnie and Grant lived near the old Klondike School after they got married, but the 1920s-era school caught their eye in a new way when it went up for sale. It was falling in and utterly dilapidated, but they still stopped one day to see it — and they fell in love with it. That was 1985, and the rest is history.

Inside, the main living space is where the original two-room schoolhouse stood in the early 1900s. The Tharps added an elevated platform for the furniture and decorated it with boho prints and JoAnnie's globe collection.

While turning the school into a home required some demolition, Grant and JoAnnie were able to keep the original wood flooring. Parts of the floors have gouge marks from the dog's claws or other marks of wear from raising a family. "I wouldn't take those out for anything," JoAnnie said.

While it might look picture perfect, the Tharps put the “live” in living space, spending nights watching movies or playing cards and board games. It's also the perfect space for entertaining when their adult children, Owen and Wallis, come home to visit.

The big, open living area flows into the kitchen and dining space. Grant and JoAnnie took out an existing wall to bring in more natural light.

In the kitchen, JoAnnie's love for bright colors continues through the stripes on the wall and in her Fiestaware dishes.

Principal and Assistant Principal signs hang on Grant and JoAnnie's bedroom door, but they didn't say who is actually in charge. There is a little secret though — those aren't the original signs. While the couple has done what they could to preserve the school itself, there were very few school artifacts left inside when they took possession of the building.

JoAnnie and Grant originally went with an industrial theme for the main bedroom, but it didn't take long before their affinity for bright colors snuck back in. Like the living room, this room also has a large platform to set aside a designated space for furniture.

The oversized clock was rescued from a mall in Florida, and JoAnnie originally intended for it to go into Grant's office, but it was entirely too big for the space. Instead, it became part of the main bedroom decor.

JoAnnie refers to the guest bedroom as the "Hillton" because it's a room with a view of the surrounding hills in southern Knox County. The guest room — which was their children's nursery when they were babies — features a city feel and a large mural of New York City, one of JoAnnie and Grant's favorite places to visit.

Travel has influenced how they tend to decorate the house. Their adventures have taken them around the world and given them a love for bright colors in styles that run the gamut from modern to bohemian.

In addition to the bright colors, JoAnnie has also worked to keep the school feeling like a school. "I taught in a school, Grant’s business was in a school and we live in a school, so the joke was that we couldn’t get enough of school."

The idea for the book tree came from Pinterest, and it stays up year-round. "Every school has to have a lot of books," she said. JoAnnie sourced the books from an estate sale for her project, and she decorates the tree with each season and holiday.

What's a school without a bus? JoAnnie and Grant have repurposed an old bus into a one-of-a-kind space with plenty of room to hang out and a compartment under the bus's hood where the Tharps store their grill. JoAnnie says the bus is often one of the first things visitors are drawn to.

Most of the bus's original seats have been removed, but two were preserved to serve as seating at the table JoAnnie and Grant installed. The bus, which is just as colorful as the house, is particularly fun on rainy days because it's a cozy spot for playing board games or cards, JoAnnie explained.