The Mary Boyce Temple House stands like a sentinel on Hill Avenue at the northern end of the Henley Bridge. During the second half of the 20th century its original grandeur slowly faded and most Knoxvillians only remember it as a shabby apartment building or an abandoned building occupied by the homeless. Built in 1907, the Queen Style structure has endured an odyssey that would have destroyed most houses. Instead, it was saved from the brink of destruction by a mayor, many preservationists, a hotel developer and one very dedicated architect. It is a fitting outcome for the former home of one of Knoxville's first preservationists.
