Ivan Racheff House and Gardens is located at 1943 Tennessee Avenue in Knoxville, and provides a delightful respite from the cares of the day. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places, and dates from 1902. Visitors to the gardens are welcome weekdays from 9:00 to 4:00, and can stroll the gardens, which include an arboretum, or picnic at any of several venues. There is no charge to visit or photograph the gardens, although professional photographers are asked to call 865-522-6210 for day fee information. Your message will be responded to quickly. Tennessee Avenue turns off Western between downtown and the I-640 interchange.
New e-mail address - racheffhouseandgardens@yahoo.com
Interested in having your wedding reception in the garden? Just call 865-522-6210 and leave a message. Someone will return your call promptly to give you all the details. There are many lovely spots for photos, and the lawn near the Memorial Wall can accommodate up to 80 chairs for the ceremony.
Whatever the time of year, you can find a tranquil spot near the wildflower garden, the fern cobble, or the Japanese-inspired Tea House. More formal gardens near the house are constantly colorful, while the lofty trees of the lower gardens provide cool shade on a summer day. The picture below shows just a few of the many moods of the property - please visit and see them all for yourself!
The house and gardens at Racheff are a legacy to the Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. (TFGC) from Ivan Racheff, owner of the Knoxville Iron Works, now AmeriSteel. He was a native of Bulgaria, an engineer, and a man with a life-long interest in the environment. He hired a landscape designer to lay out the gardens around his house, and loved to share them with all who passed by. His lodgings on the upper story of the house have been preserved almost as he left them, and the house itself is on the National Register of Historical Places. In addition, a Blue Star Memorial marker now graces the gardens.
An interesting feature added by TFGC is a brick Memorial Wall at the end of the upper gardens. On it are plaques commemorating those who contributed in some way to the property or to TFGC. The wall wings a concrete pool with water plants and goldfish. Nearby benches allow room for mellowing out and listening to the burbling water.
Annual Wildflower Sale
The spring wildflower sale, featuring numerous vendors, will be held on Saturday, March 31, 2012
from 9 am - 2 pm.
Dogwood
Arts Festival 2012
During the Dogwood Arts Festival, Aril 11 - 30, 2012, the gardens at Racheff
will be open daily 9:00 am - 4:00 pm.
The Board of Governors has had a wonderful cookbook made featuring nearly 450 pages of recipes submitted by TFGC club members from across the state, and decorated throughout with drawings by Board member Anne Wilbanks. It also details the history of the house and gardens - interesting reading whether you cook or not!
If you would like to order a cookbook - or several! - an order form is shown below. Checks for $18.00 per book, made out to "Racheff", and a note giving all the information requested, may be sent to the address in red on the form below. It is not necessary to use a copy of the form as long as all information is supplied. To have a book sent to you, please include an additional $3.00 for shipping.
Many thanks to Korrnet/DiscoverET for making this site possible.
