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Webb Class of 1970 graduate Kreis Beall, co-founder of Blackberry Farm and Design Director Emeritus of Blackberry Design, is the recipient of Webb School’s Distinguished Alumni Award for 2025. Regarded as one of the highest honors bestowed upon Webb School alumni, the Distinguished Alumni Award is presented annually to an alum whose business or professional accomplishments and service to others exemplify the goals of Webb School in the spirit of its motto, Principes Non Homines – “Leaders Not Ordinary People.”

Nestled in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, Blackberry Farm is an award-winning Relais & Châteaux resort and renowned farm-to-table destination that has become one of the world’s most celebrated retreats. In 2025, The Robb Report recognized it among “The 50 Greatest Luxury Hotels on Earth,” one of only three North American properties to earn the distinction.

A Tulane University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in art history, Beall has also forged a distinguished career in both commercial and residential design. In response to growing client demand and numerous commissions, she founded Blackberry Design, where her work has been celebrated for its effortless refinement.

For decades, Beall has been a fixture in the entertaining world and on the glossy pages of leading home and lifestyle magazines, leaving a lasting imprint on American hospitality and design. In 2002, she passed the baton to her son, Sam, who had the same passion as his mother for home and hospitality. Under his leadership, he grew Blackberry Farm to remarkable new heights before his untimely passing in 2016.

Carrying forward the spirit of renewal that has defined her life’s work, Beall more recently added author to her accomplishments with the release of The Great Blue Hills of God, a deeply personal memoir celebrating the resilience, grace, and creative spirit that have shaped both her life and career.

Beall returned to the Webb campus in October during Spartan Alumni Weekend to accept her alumni award and to share her story with Spartan Lower, Middle and Upper School students at their divisional community meetings. During her presentation at Upper School Chapel, she recounted her career journey and how it began with uncertainty as a student at Webb School. Admitting that she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life, Beall said she was happy with being what she called an average student. But then one day in her senior year, she got her first taste of the real world when she received an admission rejection from Tulane University. She credited Webb School with believing in her and for helping her to eventually fulfill her goal of enrolling at Tulane. The experience “taught me that failure isn’t the opposite of success,” Beall told the students. “Failure is the part of success that can teach perseverance. Failure toughens your skin and it strengthens your spirit.”

Beall noted that she likes to say she graduated from Tulane with a degree in adventure, embracing a philosophy of saying yes to opportunities – a mindset that eventually led her to a love of entertaining and ultimately co-founding Blackberry Farm with her husband. That path required hard work, long hours, faith, and the support of family, she remarked, adding, “My success didn’t come from perfection. My success came from perseverance.”

Beall went on to describe how her story took a dramatic turn years later when a serious accident left her temporarily deaf. She recalled that she was left feeling isolated and lacking confidence, but through that brokenness, she learned that real success is not about what you can achieve, but about relationships. “It was the people in my life who picked me up and my faith in a God who never left me that put me back together piece by piece,” she related.

Even more impactful was the lesson “that when you’ve been lifted by others, your job is to lift others too,” Beall added. “Because real purpose doesn’t come from what you build. It comes from what you give.”

In her closing remarks, Beall reflected that when people ask what she wants to be remembered for, they often expect her to name Blackberry Farm – but her legacy runs deeper. “What I really want to be remembered for is my faith in God and my courage to never give up,” she said. 

Beall encouraged Webb’s students to find what they love and to pour their whole hearts into it, to believe in themselves even when it’s hard and to give back, “because a life of service is a life of purpose,” she explained. “It’s that simple. And it’s that hard. All it takes is all you’ve got and it’s worth it.”
 

In another historic milestone for the girls’ varsity soccer program at Webb, the Lady Spartans returned to the Division II-AA state championship final for the second straight year – marking their first-ever back-to-back title appearances. Despite a tough 3-0 loss to defending state champion Baylor, the Lady Spartans’ run (15-2-1) solidified their place among the top programs in Tennessee high school soccer.

After a nail-biting, come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Father Ryan High School in the state quarterfinal that included two goals for Webb in the final 14 minutes, the Lady Spartans continued their postseason momentum with a 2-1 win over Girls’ Preparatory School in state final four play to earn another shot at the championship trophy against powerhouse Baylor.

The Lady Spartans demonstrated their trademark resilience, grit and drive throughout this season, rallying from late-game deficits and delivering a brand of soccer that gave the Spartan Nation plenty to cheer about.
 

Step into the golden age of television comedy with Webb’s Upper School fall production of Neil Simon’s Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Sunday, November 2 and Monday, November 3 at 7 p.m. in Webb’s Bishop Center auditorium. Bursting with razor-sharp wit, breakneck energy and nonstop laughs, the play pulls back the curtain on the chaos and creativity of a 1950s TV writers’ room.

Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Red Scare and McCarthyism, and inspired by Simon’s early career writing for Your Show of Shows and Caesar’s Hour, the story follows Max Prince, a larger-than-life television star modeled after Sid Caesar, and his team of brilliant, sharp-tongued writers. At the center is Lucas Brickman – Simon’s onstage alter ego – who guides the audience through a roller coaster of comedic highs, creative conflicts and behind-the-scenes drama that shaped the rise of television as a powerful new medium.

Amid rapid-fire gags and clashes with studio executives worried the show’s humor is too sharp for Middle America, the writers’ antics shine a humorous light on the social and political climate of the era.

Audiences can expect lightening-quick dialogue, colorful characters and plenty of backroom hijinks as Webb’s cast brings Simon’s iconic comedy to the Bishop Center stage.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

This production is best suited for older audience members. Discretion is advised.