Landscape

The Cherokee claimed land along the Tennessee River as part of their territory long before Europeans arrived in East Tennessee.  No Cherokee settlements are known to have existed in what is now Knox County. However, they often used the area as a hunting ground and trade route.  In the 1790s, European land speculators began carving up the area for farmers.  Early settlers like Jimmy Miller, Moses Looney, Drury P. Armstrong, and Captain William Lyon established properties around the neighborhood now known as Historic Bearden.  Either the Looney or Armstrong families claimed the land that became Eugenia Williams’s estate for much of the 1800s.  By the early 1900s, the land had been transferred to Robert Anderson, a farmer, who likely cleared much of the woodland on the property for his crops.  He also built a house and several outbuildings to complete the farmstead, but a fire destroyed the house in 1913.

As Knoxville grew and commuting became easier, affluent families began building large estates in the Bearden area along the Tennessee River, seeking open space and a closer connection to nature.

Library of Congress (excerpt)

Dr. David Williams Jr. purchased the land in 1916. He transformed the farm into an agrarian estate, building a two-story farmhouse with gardens, an orchard, and a vineyard. Williams, though employing staff, enjoyed cultivating the land himself. The Knoxville Journal noted that he often spent time among his flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Dr. Williams created a wild woodland garden with footpaths and stone features, reflecting the Prairie and Wild Garden styles popular in Knoxville at the time.

Popularized by landscape architect Jens Jensen, the Prairie style evoked the native plant landscapes and rocky outcroppings of the Midwest in residential gardens.  Similarly, the Wild Garden movement celebrated the land’s natural features, encouraging gardeners to plant local flora among dense shrubbery and trees.  Both styles emphasized the creation of seemingly wild and natural landscapes via intentional design. These principles regularly appeared on Knoxville properties in the early 1900s.  Jensen himself designed several gardens for Williams’s neighbors and friends, emphasizing regionally important plants such as dogwood, mountain laurel, and ferns among stone retaining walls and informal stepping stones. The leaders of the Knoxville Garden Club, many of whom lived near Dr. Williams, also championed the Wild Garden aesthetic and encouraged others to plant native species. Examples of these historic styles can be seen today at the Eugenia Williams House in the Millstone Garden and rustic hiking trails leading to the Tennessee River.

Other American designers adapted European traditions, adding great lawns and sweeping driveways to emulate British country houses. These landscapes followed the Picturesque style, which valued idealized, naturalistic views over symmetrical, formal gardens. Picturesque landscapes mimicked natural land formations and highlighted the simple elegance of country estates.

When Eugenia Williams inherited the property from her father in 1929, she quickly adapted the landscape to reflect the Picturesque style.  She replaced her father’s gardens and contoured the area to create a rolling great lawn with unobstructed views of the house.  She also moved the property’s entrance westward and installed a sweeping, curved driveway.  Though heavily designed, the landscape contours appear natural to visitors and create a dramatic approach. Later, Eugenia razed the house her father built to commission a new house that better suited the changed scenery. The resulting property would be her own version of an English country house in Knoxville.

Despite these drastic changes to the front portion of the estate, Eugenia retained the rear woodland garden, expansive meadow, and footpaths created by her father.  She added a few modern features, such as hose bibs and power outlets, to make maintaining the seemingly wild garden easier.  Overall, its emphasis on native plants fit into her natural landscape aesthetic and provided an intimate, private space that contrasted nicely with her public front lawn.

Today, the influences of David and Eugenia Williams, and the Prairie, Wild Garden, and Picturesque movements endure. The open lawn welcomes visitors, while wooded paths and the wild garden highlight the site’s natural beauty.