Deener Matthews

Deener Matthews has always had a love of art and crafts. Originally from Highland Park, Illinois and early life in Washington, D.C., she graduated from Rollins College with a degree in General Human Relations. She and her husband, Daniel Paul Matthews, an Episcopal priest, served two missions in the Cumberland Plateau where they were fascinated with and collected art by Fannie Mennon of Plum Nelly, Tennessee, and other regional craftspeople. They began to gather quilts and woven and carved pieces by local artists and continue a fascination with crafts of people of the world where they have traveled. In 1969, she and her husband acquired 250 acres of high mountain meadow land on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, built a road, brought up five hand-hewn log buildings, and constructed the main building at The Swag which they converted into The Swag Country Inn in 1982. Each room is decorated with hand-made quilts and original art by crafts people from the area. This is Deener Matthew's 25th season as innkeeper.