Housing Sewanee’s New Home Uses Upcycled and Donated Materials

Housing Sewanee, Inc. will host an open house and dedication of its 16th home on Saturday, Dec. 6. The open house will be from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; the dedication ceremony will be at 11 a.m.

The recipient of this house is a lifelong resident of the Mountain. As a grandmother raising grandchildren, she is very excited about the house’s completion. She has been active in the building process, and her grandchildren have enjoyed meeting the Sewanee students and community members who have volunteered on the project. 

For this project, Housing Sewanee was dedicated to “building local.” Many of the materials used in the project have come from the local community. Unlike the previous houses, this project has incorporated building practices that align with the goals of the University’s Sustainability Committee. 

Some of the unique features of the new home are: framing lumber was harvested and milled within a 30-mile radius of Sewanee to reduce the carbon footprint; recycled materials were used as often as possible, including recovered paneling from the old Sewanee Inn, second-grade flooring from the new Sewanee Inn project (used for flooring and milled into baseboard, crown molding, window and door trim); windows, door units, shower units, vanities and excess wire were donated from various job sites; and construction includes highest-grade insulation and special insulation techniques.

Dixon Myers, head of HSI, estimates that 300–400 volunteers worked on the project, compiling several thousand hours of free work, minimizing labor costs.

Housing Sewanee Inc. is a nonprofit organization modeled after Habitat for Humanity. Since 1993, Housing Sewanee has built homes for area families in need, including the elderly, the sick, the physically or mentally disabled, and grandparents raising their grandchildren.

To get to the project: From the Sewanee airport, travel south on Highway 156 for five miles. After Taylor Road, there will be orange traffic cones on the right and a sign directing parking in a field. 

The driveway and housing site are about 50 yards from the field. The address is 18535 South Pittsburg Mtn. Hwy. 

For more information call Myers at 598-1156.