A Fairway Cottage Shines at Christmas with a Sparkling Tree and Fresh Flowers Galore

Simon Pearce handcrafted glass trees on the coffee table echo the main tree. The club chairs are upholstered in a silk-and-velvet Brunschwig and Fils fabric. All photos by Aaron Leimkuehler

The home of Chuck Matney and Todd Holland-Matney embodies a happy blend of form and function. Chuck, the lead florist and manager of The Little Flower Shop in Westwood, brings the form, the design sense, and many of the collections.

But it all must function, and that’s where Todd shines. “I make sure the lights stay on, the bills get paid, and everything works,” he says with a laugh.

After all, for every gourmet cook (Chuck), there needs to be an appreciative diner (Todd). Win, win.

Top: Casablanca lilies (Chuck’s favorite flower) are the central display on the gilded carved-wood coffee table and lend a delicious fragrance to the room. Bottom, left: If you look closely, you’ll spy Jackie O, Queen Elizabeth, and Cher tucked amongst the branches of the vintage aluminum tree. A trio of Karl Blossfeldt photos hang next to the fireplace. Bottom, right: An antique French perfume poster hangs above the sofa topped with a Scalamandre silk tiger-print pillow flanked with a pair of pillows upholstered with vintage Oriental rug pieces.

“We met at First National Bank,” Todd recalls, whose banking career now includes Community America Credit Union. When the two got serious and started looking for a home together in 2017, they found this place on a quiet, tree-lined street.

“I don’t like walking directly from the front door into a room,” says Chuck, and this house had a small vestibule. It was also close to the shop, where Todd also works part-time, and it had a good flow.

But there was one catch. Before they moved in together, Chuck said to Todd, “I must have full control over how the house looks, if you’re okay with that.” Todd was okay with that.

Left: Chuck Matney, left, and Todd Holland-Matney next to a display of vintage gilded mirrors. Right: An angel santos, crowned with a gilded sunburst mirror, looks down on a vintage coffee service Chuck discovered at an estate sale.

And so today, their home gives evidence of their favorite mantra: Less is best, but more is better. Dark wood floors, custom white plantation shutters, a neutral palette, the gleam of silver and mirrors, and eye-catching displays of religious art go from room to room. When they’re not working or going out with friends, they love to scout Gillham House Antiques or Glenwood Antique Mall for another irresistible find. Once they agree on a pleasing arrangement, it tends to stay that way. “I don’t like to move things around a lot,” says Chuck. 

The living room, painted in Sherwin Williams’ Hammered Silver, features a baby grand piano in the corner, a gift from Chuck’s mother. The piano also displays long, metallic casket pulls—from Chuck’s family’s funeral home. John Derian paperweights, stacks of coffee-table books, and silver objects always give you something to look at. Painted antique wood santos and gilded halo-like sunbursts also draw the eye. Chuck designed the sofa and reupholstered his mother’s French provincial armchairs in a striped silk. Todd sourced the handsome throw pillow in a Scalamandre animal print.

Left: In the dining room, the silverleaf chandelier was a gift from a client. Surrounding the table are antique French steel garden chairs mixed with acrylic Louis Ghost chairs. Right: William Yeoward salt and pepper cellars, Waterford wineglasses, and Vietri hand-painted champagne flutes surround each placesetting.

For the holiday, a vintage tree is loaded with witty ornaments from the shop. Various characters make an appearance, including Jackie O, Elton John, Cher, Julia Childs, Elvis, Iris Apfel and many more. Special Christmas décor is tucked in amongst the objets d’ art that are gathered throughout the home.

Chuck found the dining room table, with its weathered wood top and Lucite and metal base, in Atlanta. To the vintage metal chairs surrounding the table, Todd added the Louis Ghost chairs that can be pulled up to the table for extra seating or placed against the wall to hold books. A large, framed mirror propped against a wall bounces light around the room. The chandelier over the table was repurposed from a former design client.

Left: The kitchen is home to much of Chuck’s 30-year collection of silver. Right: A Williams-Sonoma bar cart holds vintage silver-and-glass barware.

Leslie Brett, who owns The Little Flower Shop with her husband and Royals Hall-of-Famer George Brett, gave the couple an antique cupola from a church. Fastened to the wall upside-down, it functions as a floating console table. Leslie’s mother, Rosemary Davenport, gifted the couple a hand-painted Vietri champagne flute for their wedding, plus one each year for their anniversary, now four in all. The flutes take pride of place on the table with napkins, placemats, Simon Pearce glass, and William Yeoward salt cellars from the shop.

In the sitting room, located just off the dining room, Todd brought a modern midcentury cowhide and chrome chair, an early gift to Chuck, to the mix.

A comfy sofa nestles against windows looking onto the small private garden in the sitting room. The bottom level of the coffee table displays a collection of vintage match strikers.

A dinner, memorable for all the wrong reasons, prompted a redo of the kitchen. “I cooked steak au poivre for George Brett’s birthday,” recalls Chuck. “We didn’t realize that when I flambéed the cognac, the kitchen caught fire. We just kept smelling something burning. It wasn’t until dessert that we actually saw flames.”

After the fire was out and the crisis had transformed into a funny story, they kept the basic footprint of the old kitchen, but added Carrara marble counters and backsplash, painted the cabinets black and added new hardware. They also installed a Fisher & Paykel dishwasher with drawers; it delights practical Todd because it saves space and can handle smaller loads. A Ruggable rug in an animal print can go in the washing machine, another win for form and function.

In the primary bedroom, an antique sunburst mirror from George, A Lifestyle Store hangs above the bed. A hand-painted chest holds a collection of mercury-glass vases surrounding a mercury-glass lamp.

The primary bedroom, painted a dark Iron Ore (Sherwin Williams), exudes elegance and calm. Silvery lamp bases with black shades, mirrored side tables, and moody colors continue the conversation of the rest of the house, but more quietly.

When George Brett officiated at the couple’s wedding in December 2019, he requested they vow to “make the necessary adjustments in your personal lives in order that you may have a harmonious relationship together.”

And if their house is any proof, they have done just that.


The It List

Antiques
Pat Postans Antiques at
Gillham House Antiques

Flowers
The Little Flower Shop