Take a guided tour inside one of Knoxville’s most historic homes without leaving yours.
Patrick Hollis, the Executive Director and Curator of Mabry-Hazen House started a series of videos he calls ‘Live from the Parlor’ to educate the community while the doors of the historic home remain closed to the public.
“'Parlor’ comes from the root word ‘Parlee’, meaning ‘to speak.’ So, we wanted to think of a way to talk with people through each room. We’ve done the formal parlor, the informal parlor. We’re now making our way upstairs into the bedrooms,” Hollis said.
The Facebook Live videos offer the house’s virtual visitors obscure details about the lives of the families who called Mabry Hill home for so many years.
“We wanted to get up close and personal with the objects because part of what makes Mabry-Hazen House unique is the entire original family collection. Almost every piece of furniture or letter belonged to a Mabry or Hazen, so we get up close. We open the books, look at the inscriptions. It’s a way to give people a different view of Mabry-Hazen House,” Hollis said.
Mabry-Hazen House isn’t the only historical site in town coming up with creative ways to share Knoxville’s history.
The Blount Mansion uploaded a 20-minute long virtual field trip.
The McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture is showing off its displays with the hashtag #MuseumFromHome.
Even with the abundance of new virtual ways to experience Knoxville’s history, there are still costs to consider.
Without field trips or fundraising events, museums and homes like Mabry-Hazen House are hoping the public might be willing to donate like they would for an in-person tour.
“If we want this house to survive another hundred years or so, it’s going to take some help from the community to help us provide all the necessary expenses that come with a historic house,” Hollis said. ‘
The next ‘Live from the Parlor’ Facebook Live is Thursday at 2 p.m. on the Mabry-Hazen Facebook page.