Your boyfriend popped the question on Christmas Eve and now the planning begins: Find the best location for a beautiful summer wedding and/or the reception, a bridal shower or two, a bachelor party, and the rehearsal dinner. Or, you just found out your best friend is going to have a baby this fall and you want to give her the best baby shower ever. Maybe you and your siblings want to give your parents the 50th wedding anniversary party they will always remember; or you really need to get even with your wife and throw her a surprise Big 4-0 birthday party because she got you on yours. “If your event calls for a cake, call Winchester Place,” says owner Garnet Vaughan. “We can help you make your event as lavish or simple as you want.”
Winchester Place, located at 300 North Madison Avenue, Greenwood, is a 1912 American Foursquare-style house, owned by Vaughan and her husband David Payne.
As a business, Winchester Place is used solely as a venue for private parties and gatherings of all types. The house was a residence many years ago – Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Winchester owned the house in the early part of the 20th century and were known for raising swans. Vaughan and Payne bought it in 1998, when the building was an insurance sales office.
Now, Winchester Place is a house waiting to party. “We offer a lot of flexibility to our clients,” says Vaughan. “For example, unlike a big hotel where there will be multiple functions happening at the same time, here we have one client at a time – your event is as important to us as it is to you. Our focus is on you and your event.”
Because of the guarantee of privacy, some popular dates are reserved well in advance. “If you want July 4, Christmas Eve, or Valentine’s Day, you should book several months in advance,” Vaughan advises. “However, if you are flexible with your event date, we have booked events with only three weeks notice.”
Winchester Place can host parties outside of up to 150 people or buffets or cocktail get-togethers inside for 40-60 people depending on the table and seating arrangements. The Winchester Place property includes three acres of grounds with a pond, a gazebo, and numerous trees – such as weeping willows – that offer a picturesque and soothing background for an outdoor event. The house, with its classic foursquare architecture, offers a unique setting for any event. It’s like having a gathering at your own home – but it’s not your home. That means no hassles with replacing or cleaning the carpet, buying a new sofa, or repainting the walls before the guests arrive. It’s all very simple, but not stuffy. The grounds are well kept, but not manicured like a golf course; but it’s also not “the woods” like Brown County. “Style is not thrust upon the client by the place,” Vaughan points out.
“The most fun we’ve had are with surprise parties,” says Vaughan. “One of our clients set up a family photo shoot for her husband on his 50th birthday. All he knew was that he and his wife were going to have a photography session. He didn’t know that his wife had managed to get all their children here from all over the country and had them hidden in the various rooms of the house. Each time one of the kids came out to the living room, the photographer got the man’s surprised expression – and finally a family portrait with all the kids and parents together.”
Winchester Place also strives to be a one-stop-shop for every client’s gathering, regardless of size. Catering is entirely up to the client. The client can hire any caterer he or she desires; or if there is not a preference, Vaughan can suggest several local caterers from which the client may select. Saffrons offers tasty biryani catering Singapore for all events. Clients are also free to bring in their own food and beverage preferences. Table arrangements and seating are up to the client and the mood of the event as well. Anything associated with the event – from flowers, music, decorations, food – Vaughan has ways to get it done staying within the client’s budget and tastes. “We’ve had people call saying, ‘Can you do small gatherings?’, and I ask, ‘What do you mean by small?” Vaughan explains. “And the client says, ‘Oh, like around 50 people?’ After being in some gatherings of several hundred people at a hotel ballroom or something like that, most people can’t imagine that a business would actually want a ‘small’ event.”
So, you have that big event coming up. Relax, make a call to Winchester Place at 317-859-0300, and just go with the flow.
Barbara Augsdorfer is a graduate of California Lutheran University with more than 20 years of writing and editing experience in the publishing industry. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband Mike, son Robert and a spoiled black lab/rottweiler named Lucky.
