The Matthews House
Location: 317 W Chatham St, Cary, NC 27511
Capacity: Up to 160 guests
Type: Historic Estate
Website: matthewshousecary.com
Chatham Street in downtown Cary is the kind of address that carries its history in the shade of its trees. The oaks along this stretch have been growing since before the town had a traffic light, and the houses that sit beneath them belong to an era when architecture was intended to outlast the people who built it. The Matthews House has been standing at 317 West Chatham since 1915, a Greek Revival home that was designed to be beautiful and has spent more than a century proving that the design worked. The high ceilings, the wide moldings, the heart pine floors that have been walked on for over a hundred years, these are not features. They are evidence of a time when a house was built to be inherited, not flipped.
The renovation preserved every detail that mattered while adding the infrastructure that modern celebrations require, and the result is a venue that feels both historic and alive: not a museum, not a reproduction, but a house that has simply continued to be itself while the town grew up around it. For couples who want a wedding in downtown Cary that feels like a private estate rather than a commercial venue, The Matthews House delivers the intimacy, the character, and the setting that only a century of beauty can provide.
The Grand Ballroom
The Grand Ballroom is the room that gives The Matthews House its capacity, up to a hundred and sixty guests for dinner and dancing in a space that carries the proportions and finishes of the original home’s formal entertaining rooms. The heart pine floors, the high ceilings, and the architectural details of the Greek Revival period create an atmosphere that feels dressed before the first flower is placed. This is a room with its own personality, not a blank canvas venue, and the celebration that honors that personality rather than fighting it is the celebration that photographs best and feels most memorable.
The fireplace anchors the room, and the overall design rewards formality without demanding it: a black-tie dinner feels as natural here as a garden-party reception, and the room’s proportions ensure that even at full capacity, the space feels gathered rather than crowded.
The Gardens and Grounds
The brick-enclosed grounds are the outdoor spaces that make The Matthews House feel like a private estate rather than a downtown venue. A Grecian fountain anchors the garden, a gazebo provides the ceremony focal point, and the giant oaks overhead create the canopy that gives the property its sense of enclosure and privacy. Benches line the garden paths, and the landscaping, maintained with the care that a century-old property demands, provides color and texture in every season.
Outdoor ceremonies beneath the oaks carry the solemnity of the trees and the intimacy of the enclosed garden. The brick walls create a boundary that separates the celebration from the street, and the effect is immediate: guests step through the entrance and into a world that belongs entirely to the couple. The wide lawn provides space for cocktail hour, and the transition from garden ceremony to ballroom dinner follows a path that takes guests through the heart of the property.
The House
The historic home itself is the venue’s soul. The library offers an intimate gathering space: the room where the rehearsal dinner happens, where the wedding party gathers before the ceremony, where the kind of quiet conversations that a wedding generates find a place to unfold. Three furnished bedrooms and a master bridal suite give the wedding party preparation spaces that feel residential rather than institutional, and the proximity of every room to every other room means the day’s logistics never require leaving the property.
The furnishings and décor are faithful to the Greek Revival period, and the effect is one of continuity: the house looks the way it has always looked, and that permanence is part of what makes it special. Guests who have never visited before feel as though they are being welcomed into someone’s home, and guests who know the house recognize it as a place that honors its own history.
From a Florist’s Perspective
The Matthews House’s Greek Revival architecture and century-old character call for floral work that is classical in the truest sense. Arrangements in footed urns, compotes, and pedestal vessels complement the home’s proportions, and blooms that belong in a formal garden, garden roses, peonies, hydrangea, stock, lisianthus, feel native to the setting. The heart pine floors and warm moldings reward palettes of ivory, blush, champagne, and sage, and richer tones, burgundy, plum, navy, read with striking depth against the architectural details.
In the garden, the Grecian fountain and gazebo provide focal points that ceremony florals should dress without disguising. Greenery woven through the gazebo, seasonal blooms at its corners, and arrangements along the brick walkways extend the garden’s own beauty into the ceremony design. The oaks overhead provide the vertical element; the florist’s work should stay at eye level and below, lush and abundant but grounded. The Matthews House rewards floral design that respects a hundred years of beauty, and the best work here is the work that feels as though it was always part of the garden.
Practical Details
The Matthews House is located at 317 West Chatham Street in downtown Cary, approximately fifteen minutes from downtown Raleigh, twenty minutes from RDU International Airport, and within walking distance of downtown Cary shops and restaurants. The venue was built in 1915 and accommodates up to one hundred sixty guests. On-site amenities include the Grand Ballroom, historic house, bridal suite, library, brick-enclosed gardens with gazebo and fountain, and an on-site wedding coordinator. Contact the events team directly for availability, packages, and pricing.
Hidden Door Floral Studio designs wedding florals for venues across the Triangle. To discuss your wedding at The Matthews House, schedule a consultation.