From a rooftop shout to Sequoyah Hills, Spike and Monica’s next chapter is a picturesque Tudor built on love.
Story by Kirk Edwards | Photography By Tyler Lawson
Appeared in Cityview Magazine, Vol. 42, Issue 1 (Jan/Feb 2026)
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here’s a moment, every time you slip off Kingston Pike and curve onto Cherokee Boulevard, when Knoxville seems to let out a long breath. Traffic thins, the trees widen overhead, and Sequoyah Hills reveals why it has been one of the city’s most beloved and stable neighborhoods for nearly a century. The Tennessee River glides alongside runners and strollers; golden retrievers tug their owners toward the water; and the homes—majestic, eclectic, irreplaceable—line the boulevard like old guardians.
Sequoyah Hills isn’t just a neighborhood. It’s a place with gravitational pull. Property values hold steady here. Old homes are purchased as often for their lots as for their structure, quietly marked for their next life. People wait years for the right opportunity to build here.
This is where Spike and Monica McCamy chose to plant their story—a story that somehow begins not on a riverfront boulevard but on a downtown Knoxville rooftop.
The Rooftop Moment
Before there was a house on Taliluna, before there was a baby named Wren sprinting in circles through the living room, there was one unexpected shout from above.
“I was living downtown during my master’s program,” Monica recalls. “My roommate and I were walking her brand-new puppy near the Sterchi Lofts when we heard someone yelling.” They looked around at first, confused, until they spotted their friend Matt Barakus waving wildly from a rooftop across the street.
“He shouted, ‘Hey! Come up! My friend Spike is having a rooftop party!’ We were basically yelling back and forth—sidewalk to roof—trying to figure out if this was actually real.” It was ridiculous and spontaneous, the kind of moment you only realize mattered much later. “We finally said, ‘We don’t know who this is… but it’s a rooftop. Let’s go,’” she laughs.
Up they went. Matt made the introductions. “This is my friend Spike. This is his place.” What none of them knew, standing beneath string lights and the downtown skyline, was that Monica and Spike had lived almost directly across the street from one another for nearly
a year—without ever meeting. Friendship came first. Then more. And then—COVID.
“We were some of the first in our friend group to get it,” Monica says. “People treated us like we were lepers. They’d drive by and wave from their cars while we waved from the window of Spike’s loft.”
Quarantined together, they grew close quickly. When the world finally opened again, so did the next stage of their life together.
A Builder’s Legacy
Spike comes from a family where the trades were a way of life. His father, Sam McCamy, and uncle Jeff owned Roden Electric, a Knoxville institution. After selling the company to their employees, Sam pivoted instead of retiring.
“In 2007, Dad got into construction,” Spike says. “He started doing historical renovations in Sequoyah Hills, and that’s how McCamy Construction began.”
Spike’s early career took him to Hilton Head working for a contractor out of Atlanta. But the timing—2008—was terrible. The Great Recession hit, construction faltered, and Spike returned home to enter commercial real estate before eventually rejoining the family business full-time.
Today, McCamy Construction stands firmly in the top tier of custom builders in Knoxville, known for meticulous craftsmanship and a refusal to leave a project until every detail is right.
Much of that success is tied to Spike’s partner and childhood friend, Grant McMahan.
“Our moms worked together. His dad worked with my dad at Roden. He was basically the brother I didn’t have,” Spike says. “Having a partner who feels like family is invaluable.”
Grant has been with McCamy for more than a decade and now runs much of the company’s operations. Together, he and Spike have expanded into large-scale custom builds across Sequoyah Hills, Tennessee National, Rarity Bay, and WindRiver, as well as high-end renovations and spec projects.
Finding the Lot That Didn’t Yet Exist
As Spike and Monica moved from downtown loft living into planning for a family, one priority emerged: Sequoyah Hills. “My mom lives on Cherokee Boulevard,” Spike says. “And I’ve always loved that every house in this neighborhood is different. We knew this was where we wanted to be.” But building in Sequoyah requires patience. They weren’t looking for a perfect home—they were looking for a tear-down on a beautiful lot.
They searched for nearly a year before finding an older home on Taliluna Avenue that had exactly the kind of hidden potential they needed.
Spike and Grant purchased it together with one plan: divide the lot. It wasn’t that simple. The property had stormwater running through it, requiring engineering and rerouting before it could be split. Once approvals were secured, the lot officially became two.
“Grant and I built the spec home next door, and some of our best friends ended up buying it,” Spike says. “They’d been downtown, too. Now they have a little boy.” Monica smiles when she talks about the arrangement.
“My best friend lives next door. We open the gate between the yards and the dogs just run back and forth. It feels like a dream.” As beginnings go, you couldn’t script it better.
Designing a Tudor Revival That Belongs
For their own home, Spike and Monica had a clear aesthetic: a modern Tudor Revival that honored the neighborhood’s architecture without feeling nostalgic or heavy.
They partnered with designer Gus Carodine at Stephen Davis Home Designs, using a blend of inspiration images, earlier plan experiences, and site constraints to shape a home that fits beautifully on the lot and within the character of Sequoyah.
The exterior is grounded in stone from Tennessee Stone, installed by the Rector brothers, whose masonry is some of the finest in the region. McCamy Construction had used the same stone on a major renovation on Cherokee Boulevard, and the visual warmth and texture fit perfectly here.
Inside, wide-plank engineered flooring from Cella Flooring and Design offers the sturdiness required for a slab foundation while still giving the elegant tone of old hardwood.
Most of the windows are by Pella, except for one dramatic feature that defines the rear living space:
a massive accordion door system that completely opens the great room to the screened outdoor living area.
“When the weather’s right and those doors are open, it transforms the whole house,” Spike says. A recessed ceiling heater extends the usable season well into fall.
Interior Design as a Shared Creation
For Monica, building a custom home meant learning an entirely new language: plumbing packages, lighting schedules, tile selections, paint palettes, wood beam profiles. “Ashley saved me,” she says.
Ashley Jones, McCamy’s in-house selections coordinator, walked her through every decision—from the gorgeous cabinets by Dixie Kitchen, to the tile, beam stains, stone accents, and sweeping mix of lighting.
“She’s incredible,” Spike says. “She helped tie everything together.”
Lighting fixtures—the “jewelry of the house”—were curated with help from Roost, where owner Paula Osborn assisted in choosing the perfect blend of style and warmth.
Monica added her personal touch, too. A creative at heart, she collaborated with a designer friend from South Carolina on Wren’s nursery and playroom, shaping imaginative spaces that feel joyful and comforting.
The circular flow of the floor plan creates a perfect loop for a toddler who is on the move.
“Wren really didn’t fully start walking until about a week after we moved in,” Monica says. “Then suddenly she was racing laps around the loop. It was one of the most special parts of moving into this home.”
The Garage That Became an Escape
Space allowed for one more standout feature: a rear garage with a full in-law suite above it. Originally envisioned as a detached structure, local restrictions led to a lightly attached design, still with a separate entrance to maintain privacy for guests.
Upstairs, family and friends have a comfortable suite of their own. Downstairs, the garage houses Spike’s favorite retreat: a golf simulator that doubles as a theater.
“With work and a toddler, it’s hard to get out to the course,” he says. “Having a simulator at home lets me practice whenever I can—and it’s perfect for watching movies or games.”
In a neighborhood built for walking and river breezes, the simulator is a surprisingly cozy counterpoint, a reminder that homes are meant not just to impress but to be lived in.
Life on Taliluna
Downtown Knoxville has its charm, but Sequoyah Hills has a way of making life feel softer, more spacious.
“It’s just night and day,” Monica says. “The room, the storage, the yard, the park… and our best friends next door. It feels like exactly where we were meant to be.”
Dogs run between yards. Babies grow up together. Friends gather for football as the accordion doors fold away and the outdoor living room becomes part of the house. Little Wren spins in the living room under beams chosen with love and lifted into place with care. This is what Sequoyah Hills offers—beauty, yes, but also belonging.
From a rooftop shout to a two-lot dream to a Tudor Revival filled with light and laughter, the McCamy’s have built not just a house, but a home with roots.
A home that fits this neighborhood.
A home that fits their story.
A home that feels, unmistakably, like the beginning of something lasting.
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