Circle M Estates is hosting a Community Open House at The Cyrus House in Autryville on Sunday, July 19. The historic house is located at 5983 Maxwell Road, where it will serve as a new event venue for weddings, showers, parties, and other such occasions. Mother and daughter Jennifer Matthews and Abbie Mace manage the business together.
Matthews has been an event planner for many years, and Mace went to school for event management. The idea to transform The Cyrus House into a venue came from Mace. She said her inspiration started with an internship she did in college.
“While I was in college, I had to do an internship in the event industry. I chose a venue, and the venue kind of had a similar concept of what we’ve created, where you can have different events and kind of a one-stop shop where there are bedrooms, living rooms, and things like that. That’s kind of what we’ve created, in a more timeless manner,” Mace explained.
The Cyrus House was built in 1882, and remained in the ownership of the Autry family until Matthews and Mace took over in February. The original family was Captain Jim and Tompsey Autry and their daughter, Armelia. Armelia married Hans Cyrus Siversten, after whom the house and street alongside it are named. The family took care of the house for many generations, making some additions and keeping up with restorations.
When Matthews and Mace became owners of the house in February, they began working “full throttle” on the structure. They renovated the inside of the original Clement School building — which was moved from its original location years ago and placed beside The Cyrus House for preservation — into the groom’s suite. Matthews, Mace, and their family had the property ready in time to host Mace’s wedding on June 13. They also fully built the High Ridge Chapel during that time, located just down the road from the house. Mace’s was the first wedding held at Circle M Estates.
So far, Circle M Estates has already hosted a wedding, bridal shower, and baby shower. Mace noted that Circle M Estates is open to hosting all types of events, from community gatherings family events and birthday parties to church events, and so much more.”
There’s plenty of open space where people can have smaller events, stay the night, be out on the lawn, or at the chapel. The house is filled with sitting rooms and bedrooms, including a plethora of fireplaces. Mace revealed that the bridal suite in the upstairs of the house is located behind a secret door that appears to be a bookcase. The hidden door was already installed when Matthews and Mace purchased the house, and they decided to keep it. Local artist Krystin M. McPhail painted two murals for Circle M Estates, one in the main house and another in the schoolhouse.
At the Community Open House, guests will be able to explore the space, learn some of the history, and hear the vision behind it. The Cyrus House, schoolhouse, and the chapel will all be open for tours.
Dates and details for Cyrus Creations will be announced at the open house, which includes the various upcoming events that Circle M Estates will host at the venue throughout the rest of the year. There will also be door prizes, refreshments, and vendors.
Mace mentioned, “There will be the Tipsy Nurse serving dirty sodas; we’ll have a photographer — Emily Grace Photography — coming to take photos of everyone in the space, and then part of the moment will be doing some content creation to help us with advertisement as well.”
Circle M Estates has a digital presence on social media platforms, as well as a website at www.circlemestates.com
“I am excited for our space to be a part of the big and small moments in people’s lives. Being just a small part creates a feeling that is hard to describe, but something that means so much to us at Circle M,” noted Mace.
Matthews and Mace said they are both excited to see how all of their clients choose to use the Circle M Estates space and make it their own for each event.