A sprawling Knoxville estate with a history stretching back nearly two centuries has hit the market for $4.8 million — and it's already marked pending. Speedwell Manor, perched on 18.25 acres above the Tennessee River in the Lakemoor Hills neighborhood, didn't start out in Knoxville at all. The house began its life roughly 100 years earlier in the small East Tennessee town of Tazewell before being hauled, piece by piece, to its current riverfront perch.
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Speedwell Manor was originally built around 1840 in Tazewell, where it was known as Castle Rock and served as the home of merchant Hugh Graham. A search snippet from the manor's own history page offers a slightly different date, placing the construction of Castle Rock in Tazewell at 1842 — a minor discrepancy in an otherwise well-documented past.
The house's builder is also described differently depending on the source. The News Sentinel's account ties the original Castle Rock residence to merchant Hugh Graham, while the Knox Focus reports that Irish immigrant William Graham built Speedwell Manor, among other houses in the community. Nothing in the available record resolves whether the two accounts are describing different roles in the home's history or a simple discrepancy.
From Tazewell to a River Bluff in Knoxville
Sometime in the 1950s, the mansion made its unusual journey east, relocated piece by piece to its current site in Knoxville, per the News Sentinel's report. The manor's own history page narrows that timeframe further, stating the house was resited to a river bluff in 1952. Either way, the home was already a century old by the time it found its new foundation above the Tennessee River.
Once reassembled in Knoxville, the house continued its unusual run of second acts. After Dr. Frank Tipton Rogers died in 1977, the mansion opened as a museum, according to the News Sentinel's reporting, giving the public a chance to walk through the relocated Georgian structure. That chapter didn't last forever, though.
A Private Home Once Again
In 1987, Alex and Sara Shivers purchased the property for $500,000, returning it to use as a private residence rather than a public attraction, the newspaper's account states. A listing from Sellers Realty notes that the home has been cherished by the same family for more than four decades and is only now coming to market for the first time.
That long-held property, at 2112 Manor Drive, offers 5,826 square feet of living space, per the News Sentinel. A listing from Knoxville Fine Homes details six bedrooms, four full bathrooms, one half bathroom, and nine fireplaces scattered throughout the historic structure.
Listed — and Already Pending
As of Nov. 2, the mansion was priced at $4,800,000 and listed as pending, the News Sentinel reported, suggesting a buyer has already stepped forward for the nearly 186-year-old house. For a property that has worn so many identities — merchant's residence, relocated landmark, museum, and longtime family home — the pending sale marks the start of yet another chapter for Speedwell Manor.
