Dave and Tomica Whaley are not strangers to restoring historic homes. At the encouragement of Dave's Grandmother, Freda Doyle Whaley, they purchased the historic home of well-known Knoxville Jeweler, Max Freedman, located in the 4th and Gill neighborhood where they lived for 2 years. They then purchased and restored the historic home of a turn of the 20th century, Knoxville Contractor, D. W. Brimer, on Glenwood Ave., in the Old North Knoxville neighborhood.

In the Beginning...

It was a bright, sunny and very cold January day when I made the trip to Sharps Chapel to visit with Dave and Tomica Whaley and see the restoration progress on their magnificent historic home. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and known in the community as the Bate Ousley House, this 1835, Five Bay, Central Passage, Federal Style Home is one of Union County's historic jewels.