The first “I-House” was a three-story former residence at 1601 Clinch Avenue renovated by UT as an International Student Center. It opened in February 1969. The house offered English as a second language classes sponsored by the Knox County Adult Education Program and provided craft classes, coffee hours, children’s parties, a game room, sewing machines, and a loan closet with various household items that students could borrow. It had a reading room/library and newspapers from all over the world. That location was replaced in 1983 by a former residence located at 1515 Cumberland Avenue between the College of Law and the Panhellenic Building—formerly the home of the Graduate School of Planning. That house was razed in 1994 for construction of the addition to the College of Law Building, with significant architectural features of the structure being offered to the public through a bid process managed by UT’s surplus property group.
A groundbreaking for the present International House was held December 7, 1994. Until the new International House could be completed, an International Lounge was established in the university center. The new International House opened in 1996.
I-House functions had an earlier beginning: although the Wallace McClure house at 949 Temple Avenue was owned by the McClure Foundation for the Study of World Affairs, it was held by UT under the trusteeship of President Hoskins, TVA Director James Pope, and local attorney Monte Edgerton. Faculty and students lived in the house, and activities similar to those of later international houses were conducted.