Our Story
The Restoration House began with one question: “If you could do anything in life, what would you do?”
In the summer of 2005, God gave Daniel and Mandy Watson a vision of a ministry for single mothers and their families that provided transitional housing in an environment that was family oriented and reconciling in nature.
Where It All Started
Just two months later, the couple purchased a home off of Robinson Rd in Knoxville, Tennessee. The 3.5-acre property contained a four-bedroom farmhouse that included a second-story apartment with its own kitchen and outside entrance. There was also a one-bedroom rental house on the property.
Both the apartment and the rental house served as transitional living quarters for single mothers and their children emerging from public housing and/or referral programs.
Doors Open
After more than two years of research and development, The Restoration House opened its doors to its first single-mother family on November 5, 2007. This family moved into the second-story apartment in the farmhouse. A few months later a second family moved into the small rental house. Single-mother families would use these homes full-time until 2012.
More Doors
In June of 2008, The Restoration House developed a partnership with a local property owner for the use of a four-plex in the Mechanicsville area to serve as a second site. The property provided housing for three additional families, bringing the total capacity to five single-mother families at any given time. In January of 2011, The Restoration House ended its contract with the owners of the four-plex and began leasing three units at a West Knoxville apartment complex in order to have the five families in the program closer together geographically.
Extreme Makeover
In January of 2012, the Watson family and The Restoration House was the recipient of an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build that demolished the dangerously dilapidated farmhouse and replaced it with a new home for the Watsons and two small bungalows to be utilized by single-mother families of The Restoration House.
The Village
From 2012 to 2020, The Restoration House developed The Village on 6 acres adjacent to the original property. The Village is a community in which single-mother families develop supportive relationships and find healing, stability and restoration as they build a brighter future. The Village includes 24 homes, plus a community center, office, and a variety of amenities. With this expanded capacity, The Restoration House is impacting on 140–160 single mothers and 280–320 children every 10 years.
Olive Tree Early Learning Academy
From 2017 to 2022, The Restoration House completed due diligence on launching high-quality early education center. Olive Tree Early Learning Academy opened in September 2023 on a 16-acre property known as McKamey Place, 1.5 miles from The Village. Opening Olive Tree has increased TRH’s collective impact to over 80 families per year.
Best Practice Consulting
The Restoration House strives to be known as a nonprofit organization that is an agent of change and restoration for women and children in Knoxville and beyond. And as such, we have consulted with over 30 organizations from 10 different states and 2 countries since 2013 on implementing The Restoration House model.
