The board of trustees authorized the purchase of homes for the chancellors of all primary campuses of the institution in 1970. UT began negotiations in 1971 to purchase the house at 918 Cherokee Boulevard, next door to the president’s residence, as a chancellor’s residence. The house had most recently been the home of Mr. and Mrs. H. D. (Breezy) Wynn and was owned by Mrs. Wynn. (The Wynns were divorced.) The board authorized the expenditure of $100,000 from unrestricted gifts and grants and earned income on investments. Appraisal of the property was in excess of $200,000.
The university acquired the property for the authorized $100,000, with the difference between the amount paid and the appraisal value being a gift to UT from Mrs. Wynn. The house is a two-story, stone structure built in 1929 and extensively renovated in 1953 on a 2.8-acre lot. Purchase of the residence was completed in 1972 and was occupied by Chancellors Dykes and Reese. President Lamar Alexander used the president’s residence as the home of the chancellor; he preferred to purchase his own home, and the board of trustees authorized selling the chancellor’s residence at its June 1989 meeting.
The board of trustees declared that proceeds from the sale of the residence would go half toward the construction of an addition to the Faculty Club and half to a quasi-endowment for graduate student fellowships in humanities. The Faculty Senate voted 24 to 20 that the allocation to the Faculty Club was inappropriate and was joined by the SGA in opposing use of the proceeds for the Faculty Club expansion, but the board was not swayed, and the original allocation was followed. The $55,000 annual savings in maintenance on the house was to be contributed to academics on the Knoxville campus.
The residence was sold for $875,000 in late May 1990 to Harold Harrison, a local businessman and former owner of the Holiday Health and Fitness Center. Harrison was the only bidder for the home.