Macca Villa: Creating Unforgettable Moments
Story by Lee Rennick
Photos by Erin Kosko, Lee Rennick, Ansley Volkman and Jordan Roepky
Tucked among the trees and rolling countryside of Walter Hill, Macca Villa at Riverside is a unique and beautiful Wedding & Event Venue that specializes in “Southern Italian Hospitality”
In 2022, the Macca family, best known as the owners of Joey’s House of Pizza in Nashville, bought the seven-acre property from descendants of the original builder, and began to turn it into their vision of a little bit Tennessee, a little bit Sicily and a lot “inviting wedding and event venue.”
“My family and I have a love for cooking,” said Stephanie Macca Hemyari, the daughter of Joey. “We love making people happy. We have a passion for creating unforgettable moments. We loved every moment of being in the restaurant business. We had customers who became like family. But after a very long time of running the restaurant, we decided we wanted to elevate our catering business. We originally come from Brooklyn. They have a lot of events out there. Big weddings. We are giving Middle Tennessee a chance to experience a taste of that. Of Italy. Of Southern Italian hospitality.”
For those who have never heard of the Macca family or Joey's House of Pizza, the beloved restaurant off Elm Hill Pike, open from 1999 until 2022, was known for its delicious food and friendly service.
Restoration and Preservation of Rutherford County History
Although the historical house had been restored by the previous owners, the Maccas, specifically Stephanie, touched things up and added to the elegance of the distinctive property. They planted 300 evergreen trees to give the grounds the feel of Italy, added a stone patio with a water feature to use for cocktail hour and built the mostly-glass, sunlit Villa Hall from the ground up in 2023. They did it all in six months. Stephanie acted as the coordinator, working directly with the general contractor and the sub-contractors.
“I made sure everyone was doing their job, and the jobs got done right,” chuckled Stephanie, as she carried a plate filled with freshly made cannoli towards visitors browsing over the property for a possible wedding. “You want to know how I won the contractors over? With food. I gave them a lot of food. I’d say, ‘Come on, don’t you want me to be open here so I can make you more of this delicious food?’”
Keeping the Original Home’s Sense of Story
The entry to the Bridal House is quite refined with its original natural wood trims and the embossed brass embellishments on the risers of the wood stairs gliding up to the second floor. All of the furnishings in the entry hall invoke the feeling of an earlier time with lovely carved oak settees and an antique handmade grandmother clock.
Beverly, Sr., the first owner of the house, was a prosperous farmer, merchant and magistrate for the 5th District from 1842 to his death in 1868. His son Beverly, Jr., according to rutherfordtnhistory.org, “had substantial vision for Riverside; and he enlarged the home in the 1870s adding two more bedrooms and the rear ell wing.
Passing down through the generations, the home ended up being owned by Beverly, Jr’s granddaughter, Sarah, who married John Claude Jones. She turned the house into an antique store, which it remained for many years.
While the dining room and the entry halls in the house all harken back to the original design with their antique furnishings and stained-glass accents (especially of note in the back-entry hall), Stephanie has given other parts of the house a more eclectic and modern feeling with her interior design. The living room, which has been set up as a place for the groom and his attendants to hang out, blends 1900s inspired wallpaper with mid-century leather furniture and a black marble coffee table. Above the fireplace, which offer’s the original brick work and mantle, hangs the head of a spiral horned deer.
Upstairs is dedicated to the bride and her party with plenty of space to relax and get ready for the big day. At the top of the landing there is a sitting area with accesses to the upper balcony that looks out over the rolling hills of Rutherford County. The sitting area features a green velvet Victorian couch and a modern decorative chest from India with white hand-carved wooden doors.
The pink and white dressing room has unique grey patterned wallpaper with a deer head motif reflecting the head hanging over the fireplace in the groom’s area. There are pink and white velvet chairs, make-up stations and plenty of space to hang “the dress” so it won’t get wrinkled.
In the “Something Blue” room with its sleigh bed and original hardwood floors, the bride can find a relaxing space to be alone before taking her vows or share a few tears with her father before he comes to escort her down the aisle.
An additional bedroom with twin beds and another green velvet Victorian couch offers space for the mothers of the bride and groom to get dressed and do their hair and make-up.
Blending the Exquisite Manor House with the Modern Villa
The Villa Hall, while ultra-modern, draws its structural concepts from the original home, now called “The Bridal House”. The gabled portico of the simple Georgian historical home is reflected in the inverted “v” of the pitched roof of the event hall, and its black-roofed entry area with a statement chandelier has the feel of the formal entry hall of the original home with its chandelier of cascading crystals.
“The original contractor made a beautiful rendering of what the Villa Hall was going to look like, and I was able to book 30 weddings from that drawing,” explained Stephanie. “About 30% of the people who booked knew me, or not me, but Joey’s House of Pizza. They knew my family, and they were confident and trusted us to get the job done. That we were going to make it happen, and we were going to make it beautiful.” And they did.
Stephanie ended up doing most of the design work herself, using an architect and a local contractor. Although, it didn’t end up anything like her original plans, it turned out beautiful with faux marble floors, an open beam structure that can be draped in fabric, massive tiered crystal chandeliers and pivoting doors that can be opened to the outside courtyard.
Polished and sophisticated, Stephanie has used the interplay of her favorite combination of black and white to create a space with a grand sense of proportion. “I love black and white because it is timeless. That is why my building is black and white. It allows the client to bring in their own style.”
Simple board and batten walls offer a plain canvas on which to build a dream wedding. The space can be dressed up or dressed down. It can be minimalist or maximalist. It can be farmhouse or uptown. It all depends on the choice of décor.
The Kissing Tree, Courtyard and Landscaped Grounds
Outside stands the Kissing Tree, a courtyard and the beautifully landscaped grounds that provide the perfect backdrop for the perfect wedding. Many ceremonies take place under the Kissing Tree, which creates a natural focal point for the saying of vows. And they will soon be adding a chapel.
“In Italy they have a place called the ‘piazza’,” explained Stephanie. “We have a stone courtyard here that is our piazza. We love to have everyone gather together there. They have cocktail hour. We do a beautiful spread of ‘aperitivo.’ It is all the appetizers and charcuterie. It is a lovely social hour. If you don’t drink, we do mocktails. There’s music and a beautiful water fall out there. A firepit. Getting people together is our thing.”
They have an extensive catering menu. While it has all the Italian Classics, it is not just pasta. There are many other Italian dishes; a lot of Sicilian style foods that you might not find in a traditional Italian restaurant – like their new ‘Sicilian Style Meat and Three.” One of the options is Italian meatloaf, which is cooked in white wine and stuffed with ham, cheese, capers, tomatoes and different herbs. They serve it with their version of mashed potatoes, which is made with roasted potatoes, and broccolini instead of collard greens.
“We handle almost everything,” noted Stephanie. “I call it a semi-inclusive venue. We include the Bridal House, the Villa Hall, the ceremony and reception set-up and breakdown, all the food for cocktail hour, dinner, dessert which is called ‘Venetian Hour’ in New York, and pizza as a late-night snack. We call it a ‘pizza nightcap.’ We also have the venue staff that serves either family style, buffet or a mix of both. We put a lot of love into our food. Everything is made fresh on site. It makes us stand out. I strive for excellence in every aspect, but especially the food.”