AN INVITATION
to Mike Mattevi and Mike Rogers’ annual holiday open house is like an instant passport to Colonial Williamsburg, wrapped in all the festive accoutrements that 18th-century America might have offered.
An evening to remember The spirit of the season is felt in the generous, warm and unpretentious way the couple entertains and decks the halls. The food is a fabulous homemade feast—from scrumptious hors d’oeuvres followed by a Colonial-inspired buffet dinner with Smithfield ham, tenderloin and other Yuletide dishes. Candles and oil-burning lamps flicker and cast a magical glow upon an unforgettable evening. The fireplace in the keeping room, transformed into an 18th-century tavern for the event, magnificently roars, and the pleasant bartender, who wears a tri-cornered hat popular during Colonial times, handily pours beverages from behind the cage bar. Even Jack, the family Airedale terrier, seems to enjoy the merriment. The couple’s fondness for the famous historic site in Virginia radiates throughout their spacious two-story Colonial-style home in the Washington Township area of Dayton. “When we do the party, everything is real,” explains Mattevi. “We try to follow some of the traditions at Williamsburg.” continued >
housetrends greater miami valley 63