Castle Gwynn

The fifth reason to go to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival is to see 'my' castle.  (See reasons 1-4 here.)  My maiden name is Gwin and it's rare to come upon another Gwin (spelled any old way) here in the U. S.  I bet I'd run into loads of them if I ever went to Wales, where the Gwin name originated.

Before entering the castle, there's a man who gives you a brief history of Castle Gwynn.  It turns out he's the guy, Mike Freeman, who has been building the castle for several decades and that he and his wife actually live in it.  People assume it takes wealth to build a castle, but he's not a rich man.  He adds to it when he has money and stops when he doesn't.  He's a photographer and does a lot of bartering - photography for castle supplies and labor.  He and his wife also generate income from the Festival that's held on their 40 acres.

I can't believe that I'm just now learning this, but 'gwin' in Welsh means 'white'.  Mr. Freeman named his home White Castle because white is a great color for defense at night - it's easy to see intruders scaling the walls.  

The tour starts in the unique cylindrical kitchen where modern conveniences are stealthily included in the design, which includes 16 brick archways.

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The tour appears to be over when you enter the next room and you discover it's the souvenir shop in the bottom of the right turret.  Seriously!?  But, we discovered that we could explore the next floor up - the one containing the two-story great room.

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I just googled the Welsh flag to see if it's one of the flags adorning the domed ceiling.  It's the one on the left.  The cool dragon flag was adopted in 1959 - a very interesting year for me!

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Check out this article for more information on Castle Gwynn.  I just learned from the article that Taylor Swift used the castle in her "Love Story" music video.  Have fun storming the castle!