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.