Meet the Staff at The 1898 Waverly Inn

John and Diane Sheiry own the inn and have been the innkeepers since 1988. Darla has worked here since 1991, Debbie came in 2000 and Bridget has worked here off and on since she was 14 years old. Sandi is the newest addition to the team, starting in 2012 when we opened the spa services room. We are a seasoned crew that works well together to make your stay a good one.

John is the creative force behind the breakfast menu and service. He cooks breakfast if it is a busy morning and we have more than fourteen guests. He leaves it to Diane if there is less than half of a house full of guests. Do not panic, he has taught Diane everything she knows about the cooking of a great breakfast experience. John has another full time job as a commercial real estate appraiser so he definitely needs a little relief from the kitchen when he can get it. He is always playing with a new recipe or tweaking another so be assured that he is always interested in your breakfast experience. John is also the long term planner for the inn. He always sees everything as it should be five years from now. He will always make sure that we are thinking ahead. Whether we want to or not.

Diane runs the inn on a daily basis. If you are missing something let her know. She is always looking for everything to be perfect and will fix any troubles as quick as possible. She also paints, is a decent fix-it person and does the renovation work that the inn always needs. She pays the bills, does the shopping, manages the schedules, and generally makes sure that the inn runs smoothly. It’s exhausting watching her keep it all together so well!

Darla is the reason we all have a hard time controlling our weight. She bakes all of those lovely and delicious cakes and cookies that we all find so luscious and irresistible. She also manages to make lemonade an art form with honey and raspberries in her recipe. She picks out the cheeses and puts the nibbles together that we use during the tasting hour. She hires the staff, takes care of the laundry, and cooks breakfast when John is out of town. You will see her walking her Havanese dog "Casey" on the streets of downtown and her family's favorite name for her is "Auntie My Darla". She is Diane's sister and is Christie and Tori's aunt.

Debbie is our brains, sanity and cheerleader at the inn. If you like what you see on this website, she is the reason why. She is also the best concierge on the planet! A normal day for her may include writing an itinerary just for you, serve you breakfast, answer the telephone, take care of all of the emails coming into the inn, make sure that you have tickets, reservations and anything else that you have asked for and keep all of us on the staff laughing and cheerful. She is always there to remind us what we are doing well and what we still need to do before our day is finished. If all that isn't enough for one person, she also works for John at his appraisal business and keeps him organized there as well. She has three growing children, a husband that loves to cook, and a huge garden that needs to be frozen and canned. How she does it all we will never know.

Bridget is the youth and energy of this organization. She cleans this house, plays the dishwasher, serves you breakfast and uses her university education to tell Diane when, where and how to decorate the house and rooms. Her ability to choose color, know a good piece of furniture and the best placement of a picture have been a wonderful addition to the inn. As large of a job as it is to keep this large building cleaned well, she also does interior design jobs on the side to keep her skills fresh, and works at a shop in Brevard in the evenings! Her sense of humor, her sarcasm at just the right moment, and her ability to be pulled in three different directions at all times makes us truly appreciate how amazing she is.

Sandi is our newest addition to the landscape. As our spa services coordinator she is a calming force of nature. Her sheer determination has created this new department and service for our guests. And, she must know every massage therapist in Western North Carolina! She always finds the perfect person for every guest and their needs. Her work with lymphatic cleansing and facials is one of the the most popular services that we offer. She makes everyone feel ten years younger! She is funny, a great listener and will pull us into the wellness attitude that we all need. We have found that she may be little but her personality and attitude make her a big asset to this organization.