Castles Don't Grow In The South.
Do they?
TURRETS? In Tennessee?
I pulled over off I-840, a bypass that hooks like half a wagon wheel around the southern half of Nashville. I rubbed my eyes, then sniffed what was left of my Diet Coke in the Hardees cup – hmmm. Nothing amiss there.
So I again glanced up to a cliff overlooking the westbound lanes of I-840. It was still there. It MUST be there.
There’s a friggin’ CASTLE in Tennessee.
I have since discovered there actually THREE castles in the Volunteer State, but this one, Castle Gwynn, appears to be the most elaborate, a replica of a 12th-century Welsh castle.
It’s also the private home of lifelong Nashvillian and portrait photographer Mike Freeman. For his retired wife Jackie and him, it’s a Quixotic building journey, now in its 45th year.
Let me back up. The groundbreaking was in 1980. Freeman had begun the planning stage in 1970 – he told Tennessee Home and Farm its genesis was a high school art class assignment. Freeman was instructed to design his dream home.
Freeman drew a castle. But where the assignment ended for the rest of the class, it was just the beginning for the photographer.
Mike says folks assume he’s made of money. The truth, he says, is that he builds as he has the cash. When he runs out, he stops building.
As of now, Castle Gwynn includes two 7-story towers connected by a walkway. The front features a sweeping double staircase modeled after one in the White House.
One tower’s first floor is a garage with a great room on the second floor, an impressive two story reception area complete with a balcony, domed ceiling, arches, chandelier and fireplace.
The other tower is the couple’s private quarters.
Nashville’s Channel 2 toured the home – it’s like stepping into a time machine. There’s a foyer on the first floor with kitchen that features sixty brick arches – over 14 thousand bricks were used in construction.
Freeman, his family and friends made the bricks themselves.
Maybe because of that do-it-yourself aspect that Freeman and his wife could then afford to have stained-glass kitchen windows and 12th-Century gargoyles imported from England. You can’t help but notice the 400-year-old table in the room’s center and 600-year-old floor tile.
This ain’t your father’s Lego model, pal.
As the castle took shape, the Freemans decided to share parts of their home, kicking off the Tennessee Renaissance Festival, which will turn 40 in 2026 – the only renaissance festival in the country with its own castle. The festival is held each May over nine days - this year on May 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th, 17th, 18th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 10 til 6. Learn more at TNRenFest.com.
Castle Gwynn benefited from publicity in 2008 when a young Nashville singer used the castle for one of her music videos. It was Taylor Swift’s Love Story, the first single from her album Fearless.
The castle is a remarkable story demonstrating what can be done when someone is determined to follow a dream.
Maybe the term “determined” isn’t a strong enough word. Using creative financing (Freeman bartered those fourteen thousand bricks and labor with wedding photography) and sheer force of will (making those bricks took two years of weekends) – perhaps obsessed is a better word?
I prefer quixotic. Romantic.
I’ve only scratched the surface of Castle Gwynn. The owners are developing merchandise for sale on their webpage. Learn more at CastleGwinn.com
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