Story by Lee Rennick
Photos by Erin Kosko, Lee Rennick and Bill Jakes
“We spent 21 years on Maney Avenue, and absolutely loved living downtown,” Bill Jakes shared. “And tried to be part of the movement to promote downtown. I served on MainStreet’s board for eight years, as well as other various boards and commissions downtown. To be able to leave there, we knew it was going to take something special.”
Designing Their Something Special
The Jakes almost built a house in a new subdivision called Slatewood. The original plan for the development was to have all the homes built in modern style, which appealed to Bill and his wife Sarah. However, that plan went sideways when the developer was approached with an opportunity to sell most of the lots to a national builder to create spec houses. Just after they bailed out on that plan, the couple found a two-acre lot in Leanna. It had been listed before, but it didn’t sell. Bill tracked down the owner who was willing to let them buy it. On this land they decided to adjust their plans and build their dream home.
The concept of having a U-shaped home built around a central courtyard on one level was something Bill had wanted since childhood. Together he and Sarah drew up a plan for the house around the concept of a central courtyard with a pool, finding ideas for the look they wanted by scouring Pinterest and other sources. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian architectural design was one of their biggest inspirations. After coming up with something they thought was truly unique, they took their sketches and style photos to local architect Jamie Taylor, of J Taylor Designs. She sharpened up the design, and drew up plans that were builder ready, tweaking everything that they had envisioned so it all fit. It was built by Brian Burns of BA Homes.
“What we ended up with was pieces and parts and inspirations that came from a lot of different sources,” Sarah noted.
“I love the idea of an outdoor space that is in your house,” added Bill. “We had even considered fully enclosing it, but that was not realistic with the pool construction because it had to happen after a lot of the housework was done. We drew the house first, then had to find a pool that fit. We didn’t want one over six feet deep. We knew we wanted a spill-over spa because we wanted the waterfall feature. We found one by Thursday Pools that was installed by Greg Bailey of Majestic Swim.”
“I love the courtyard,” Sarah noted. “Especially when it rains. I love sitting on the covered porch and watching the rain come down.”
The family moved into their new home in May of 2025. While their two children, William who is sixteen and twelve-year-old Lucy, were able to enjoy the pool and outdoor living last summer, Bill and Sarah were busy setting up décor, moving furniture out of storage, organizing everything and transplanting a number of plants from their old residence to the new one.
Incorporating Native Plants and Plants from Family
“I try to be very mindful of the natural world around me, and I want to do my little part to preserve and protect precious things every day of my existence,” Bill avowed. “Gardening and plants are a big part of who I am, just like my love of history and historical places. I guess the root of it all is that I was born of native Rutherford County folks who farmed for existence and got good at it. They passed down a love for growing things that has been generational. My grandmother gardened and canned every kind of vegetable imaginable, and so my dad picked up the knack naturally. When I was a kid, I remember dad's goal each year was 200 quarts of tomatoes and 200 quarts of green beans. That would take us through to the next season! When I purchased my first house in '98, I started gardening for myself for the first time. I collected many of my first plants from my grandmother. She shared some of my favorites that I still grow today.”
Bill’s grandmother gave him the Swamp Hibiscus, Moon Flowers and Evening Primrose that he still grows. The peonies came from his second house when he moved downtown in 2004. He planted about a dozen peonies that he separated every five or six years, and he has taken some of them with him to both homes he’s lived in since then.
“Many of my indoor plants have also been with me for a very long time,” expounded Bill. “I've owned my Ficus Tree for 30 years, and my Split Leaf Philodendron and Dragon Tree have both been with me for about 25 years.”
Since moving to their new house, Bill has had a blank slate to work with. There was not a single flower, bush or tree on the property when they moved in. He has added more than seventy trees, including a small native orchard area that includes three types of wild plums, hazelnuts, persimmons, mulberries, crabapples and serviceberries. In a few years there will be a lush garden surrounding their new home.
From Historical Homes to Mid-Century Contemporary
The last two homes the Jakes family lived in were built in 1923 and 1941, so the furniture style they have lived with for years had to be changed for their mid-century modern inspired contemporary home. Their previous décor was much more antique, classic, and art deco. Having to switch their décor to fit the new style, they sold a lot of their old furniture.
“We started that pretty early on,” Bill remarked. “When we started building, we started unloading pieces. China cabinets, all the kid’s furniture and old wooden things that we knew were not going to work in our new, airy, open-concept, contemporary space. We also started buying new things and storing them so when we got here, everything was ready to move in.”
“Honestly, we found the furniture everywhere,” said Sarah. “With such a drastic change in style, we had to replace almost everything. Several pieces were found in Nadeau, a unique furniture store in Nashville that we love. We also sourced from Crate & Barrel, World Market, and Amazon, to name a few.”
“We found lighting on Amazon, at Home Depot and from Ferguson both lighting and fixtures for the kitchen and bathrooms. Fergusons helped us with some of our decisions,” explained Bill. “City Tile provided our tile.”
Their initial meeting to pick tiles at City Tile was a three-hour process, but when Sarah got home, she wasn’t feeling certain of her choices. While they ended up deciding on tiles for the main bathroom from City Tile, Sarah ended up going up to Dal Tile in Nashville where the selection is much larger for the rest of the house. After making her selections at Dal Tile, she was able to order the tiles she selected through City Tile. “Kiersten Pepper was my contact at City Tile. She had all the patience in the world with me and is very talented”, said Sarah.
“I went up there so many times, so many times,” Sarah grinned. “I’d be inspired by something and then go look at tiles. Every time I went up to Dal Tile, I stayed there an hour or two and looked at everything they had and then put it together. The pool bathroom was the most fun to design! It was our chance to go wild! We wanted a funky vibe. We chose all blue tile, to give the feeling of being surrounded by water. We chose the organic penny tiles on the floor to mimic the look of pool waves.”
The only furniture pieces they can think of coming from their old house were the credenza under the television set in the family room/game room, and the green couches in the living room. However, they did bring a lot of their décor.
All the posters in the family room/game room were collected at concerts they attended over the years at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. Most are Hatch Show Prints. The most recent addition being from the Hayley Williams concert the night before they were interviewed for this article.
“Some good memories,” Bill beamed.
Much of the other art is from local artists, including old friends Pam Mack and Carol Berning. And the large stained-glass window piece was designed by Bill and created by a guy he knew who was learning to make stained glass windows at a shop on West Main Street at the time.
“I actually refinished a floor for him, trading my work for the piece of art,” summated Bill.
Their Kids Didn’t Want to Move
“We looked at a lot of existing houses,” Bill remarked. “We’d trick the kids into helping us look. We’d say, you know Dad’s in real estate, and there’s this new house that just came on the market, so we need to go look at it for market experience.”
“Because at first the kids did not want to move,” added Sarah. “They didn’t want to leave downtown at all.”
“So, we’d take them into these houses just to see what their honest reaction was,” noted Bill. “Not that we were going to potentially buy it at all, but ‘just what do you think about this house?’ And they would initially be so negative.”
“They started changing toward the end,” explained Sarah. “One house we looked at, they said, ‘this is pretty cool.’ It had a big room where you could watch TV and play.” “So, we made sure to incorporate a large game room in our floor plan.”
One thing the couple kept in mind during the process was their kid’s schools. They wanted to keep them in the same community of schools, which is hard because schools in the downtown area are assigned strangely due to most of the various school zone lines reaching into the downtown area. If they had stayed downtown, William and Lucy would have been assigned to Blackman High School. In their new home located north of town, the kids will be able to continue in Siegel schools where they have friends.
Going from Historical to Contemporary
Bill has a long history with historical homes. He started sub-contracting in 1995 installing and sanding wood flooring for larger contractors in Nashville, then opening his own business called Murfreesboro Hardwood Flooring, Inc. just a few years later.
Getting into real estate was a natural progression. He did a lot of work in new construction, not just redoing old floors, and he became friends with realtors who represented the builders he worked for. Then, when he moved downtown, he started doing some remodeling work, beginning with his own house. He next started doing floors for neighbors. Then he got his real estate license, which led him to start buying and selling homes he and Sarah renovated. Bill doing the construction, Sarah using her design eye developed through a past in retail.
“He is so knowledgeable of historic homes,” said Sarah.
“Downtown became my niche,” explained Bill. “In the early 2000s people were still afraid of downtown. It was much more eclectic. There were a lot of students, and apartments, and older architecture that hadn’t been fixed up yet. In the last twenty years it has really changed. I knew that as the town grew out that the downtown would redevelop and revive.”
He bought one house downtown, renovated it, then sold it and moved into the one next door, then renovated that one. His interest in older homes grew the longer he lived in and worked with them.
“I was chairman of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities for about eight years,” said Bill. “Our main goal with that organization is to create awareness for historic homes. We put those green signs out in front of old homes that you see up and down Main Street. And what I thought was kind of funny and interesting was how we named those houses; the person who built it, then the person who lived in it the longest, and/or the person who made the most significant upgrades or alterations to the home. From that perspective, I think it is really fun to finally build a home that is the Jakes’ house. Because every other house we ever lived in was the Bell House or the Smith House. We finally have one that is the Jakes House.”
“And Bill has history on this road,” added Sarah, “he was brought up just down the road.”
“Dad had just returned from Vietnam and my mother had just graduated from high school when they married and moved into a place about 1,500 feet down the road,” noted Bill. “So, I pass my childhood homeplace every day.”
He got interested in history through his family connections. Growing up he knew his family was from around the area, but they didn’t have much documentation of their family history.
“As I grew older and dug deeper into it, I discovered that some of my ancestors were founding families of Rutherford County and Murfreesboro,” said Bill. “That created a connection for me in this town that I have continued to dig and dig and dig into. Eventually, I came to feel it was part of my duty to promote local history.”
Bill got involved with the historical society early in his search for family history. Members of the society guided him and pushed him. Then in 2006, he published a book called, Postcard History Series, Murfreesboro.
According to a synopsis of the book on Thrift Books’ website, “Murfreesboro was recognized as an official city in 1817, and from 1818 to 1826, it was the capital of Tennessee. In its early years, the town established itself as a rich agricultural community. By 1853, the area was home to three colleges and several academies. Murfreesboro played a decisive role in the Civil War and suffered the loss of many of its people and much of its architecture. However, in the early 20th century, Murfreesboro regained its momentum and began to rebuild. Many of the buildings from this era still exist today and stand as great reminders of the town's past.”
He wrote the book after collecting old images and post cards of historical places in Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. He continued to do that for years and years, as well as running a couple of Facebook groups devoted to local history. In 2021, Jakes published another local history book with his friend Sandra Campbell, titled, The Wendel Papers, which was based around old letters written by a local Murfreesboro family during the Civil War.
“I just feel like I’m a product of this town,” he added. “Literally.”