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Studio History........ Allan and Merna Furney purchased an acreage east of Knoxville in 1977 in order to build a comfortable country home. At the time they had no idea that one day they would need that large plot of land (nearly 30 acres) in order to create a one-of-a-kind photography studio. When they decided to switch from just doing weddings to doing all types of photo work, a large building was needed. |
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Rather than build something in town, they
decided to make use of the land they already owned, and a spot was cleared a few yards
from their house. The newest photography studio in Iowa was going to be 32' by 52'
and have the best of everything! The style of the building was to be patterned after a turn-of-the-century railroad depot. Why? Because Allan has always loved old trains, old airplanes, and old cars. |
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The Furneys designed the structure themselves, and it was built without blueprints, the carpenters working from a foamcore model that Allan put together for them. Construction began in 1990 and was immediately plagued by a year of very bad, El Nino-like weather. The building process took over one year, but by the summer of 1991 the new studio was ready to use. The first photos were taken there in August of that year, and a large open house was held in the middle of October on the most beautiful fall weekend ever. |
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Nearly 400 people came to the studio during
the two-day open house! It was an auspicious beginning for Knoxville's newest
business venture. The studio is located at 1701 Newbold Drive, two and a half miles straight east of the sale barn that is southeast of Knoxville on Highway 5. You can also reach the studio by turning south off of T-15 at 165th Avenue. That intersection is about one mile east of the 3-M/Hormel corner. |