Influential Women: Pontheolla Mack Abernathy Transforms a Storied Spartanburg Estate Into a Home for Hospitality

SPARTANBURG, SC, UNITED STATES, October 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Owner and CEO of Clevedale Historic Inn and Gardens Draws on a Broadcasting Career, Global Travel, and Deep Community Roots to Create a Shared Experience for Every Guest

Spartanburg, South Carolina – Pontheolla Mack Abernathy has built a career around a single guiding passion: people. As Owner and CEO of Clevedale Historic Inn and Gardens, also known as Clevedale Inn, she runs the only bed and breakfast in Spartanburg County. Under her leadership, the property has grown from a place for overnight stays into a sought-after venue for weddings, reunions, corporate retreats, and gatherings of every kind. She continues to greet every guest personally, treating each visit as a shared experience rather than a service rendered.

Long before she became an innkeeper, Pontheolla began her professional life in broadcasting. In 1980, she started with an NPR affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina, and later stepped into a news director role at stations in Charleston. Her path eventually led her to World Space in Washington, D.C., where frequent international travel exposed her to different cultures and hospitality customs. In South Africa in particular, she absorbed a philosophy of mutual exchange between host and guest that would later define her approach to innkeeping. An alumna of the University of South Carolina Journalism School, where she was active in Carolina Alive and NABJ, she carried the storytelling instincts of her broadcasting years into every chapter that followed.

In August 2013, Pontheolla turned a long-held ambition into reality when she opened Clevedale following an extensive renovation of a property that had sat vacant for years. The estate sits on the last four acres of what was once a 440-acre farm, traces its roots to 1798, and had remained in the Cleveland family before she took on its care. She filled the inn with global influences gathered during her broadcasting career, curated local artwork throughout, and introduced distinctive touches, including a restored 1947 Southern Railway caboose added during the pandemic.

Today, Clevedale reflects every chapter of Pontheolla’s life. Its grounds carry the history of a family farm that stretches back more than two centuries, while its decor and art speak to the cultures she encountered as a broadcaster traveling the world. Guests who arrive for a night or a celebration step into a setting that connects the region’s past with the people who gather there now. For Pontheolla, preserving that story is as important as hosting the people who come to experience it.

Pontheolla attributes her success to the surrounding community. Guests come, see what Clevedale offers, and their word of mouth keeps bringing others back. She also credits the inn’s ability to innovate and adapt during hard times. During COVID, she leaned into the property’s history and added new features such as the retired caboose, which helped keep the business going. The best career advice she received came from a fellow bed and breakfast owner, who told her that the real money in the business does not come from heads in beds alone but from everything built around those stays. That insight shaped her decision to expand into events, weddings, and other offerings beyond traditional lodging.

Her challenges have been real. Pontheolla has navigated financing, county regulations involved in renovating a historic property, and the survival pressures of COVID, which closed several nearby bed and breakfasts. Yet she has also seen opportunity in the property’s historic narrative and unique amenities, including the caboose and plans to add an adult treehouse, to attract visitors seeking distinctive experiences. She sees further promise in the growing role of AI-assisted trip planning in helping travelers discover places like Clevedale. To young women entering hospitality, her advice is to dream big and often, visualize the dream, execute it, and surround themselves with fellow dreamers who keep them inspired.

Community, relational hospitality, storytelling, and historic preservation are central to who Pontheolla is, and above all, she wants to be an asset to Spartanburg. She serves on the Spartanburg Vision Plan 3.0 Steering Committee and the Ballet Spartanburg Board of Trustees, holds a seat on the One Spartanburg Inc Executive Committee, and is involved with the Bloom Upstate Lotus Society. She hosts monthly PorchTalk gatherings at Clevedale, reflecting her belief that hospitality is a two-way practice rather than a transaction. She is also a member of the Association of Lodging Professionals and the SC Restaurant and Lodging Association, and her civic engagement has been honored with the Mary L. Thomas Award for Civic Engagement.

Recognized for her contributions to hospitality and community life, Pontheolla Mack Abernathy is slated to be featured in an upcoming 2026 edition of Influential Women magazine. Her journey from newsrooms to a historic Southern estate shows how a lifetime of listening, traveling, and storytelling can become a gift to an entire community. She has turned decades of experience into a lasting legacy of history, heart, and Southern welcome.

Learn More about Pontheolla Mack Abernathy:

Through her Influential Women profile: https://influentialwomen.com/connect/pontheolla-mackabernathy

Influential Women

Influential Women provides a platform where women from all backgrounds can connect, share their perspectives, and create content that empowers themselves and others. Through storytelling, thought leadership, and creative expression, Influential Women amplifies voices that inspire change.

Editorial Team
Influential Women

Media gallery