By Mark Watt, Properties Magazine
(Read on the Properties Magazine website)
This spring, Gideon Owen Wine Company completed the latest renovations to its historic home in Port Clinton. Under new ownership since 2019, the former Mon Ami Winery and Restaurant has been rebranded and reimagined with modern amenities that bring new life to the property, while honoring its rich history as one of the Catawba Peninsula’s earliest wineries.
The refreshed space, designed by Dimit Architects with Focht Construction as general contractor, includes several new concepts, including a full-service restaurant called The Chalet, a wine bar and French-style market, as well as its new Ballroom and Vineyard Rooms to host weddings and other private, special events.
Formerly a dark and dated dining room, The Chalet features new lighting, enlarged entryways to improve flow and an inviting new fireplace in the round that provides a central focus. A revamped ceiling incorporates wood-constructed clouds, built from a Heinz vinegar factory’s soaking vats, that tame acoustics within the room.
“The concept was to make the space more intimate, sophisticated and relaxed, such that smaller groups of friends and family can gather around different centers,” says Analía Nanni Dimit, director of interior architecture with Dimit Architects.
The facility’s entrance, which previously housed a waiting area, hostess stand and small bar, is now a wine-tasting space called Tirage with self-serve Napa Technology Wine machines.
The design intent in the updated space was to establish “a more European, wood-crafted ambience,” Dimit says. “Custom wood millwork sections augment the existing beam-and-post structure at the ceiling with concealed spotlighting between to highlight wine displays and dispensers. Careful selection of furniture and fabrics throughout contrast with the heavy stone historic walls.”
The facility includes a generous exterior patio and entertainment lawn stretching from the winery to the newly planted west vineyards. Construction of a new open-air stone and heavy timber “French Market” pavilion is anticipated to launch this summer, with future plans to utilize original century-old vaulted wine cellars below the Chalet.
Feedback from guests has been overwhelmingly positive, says Donna Smith, who owns the property along with husband Quintin and family. “Many locals who had not returned to the old restaurant in years are enjoying the changes,” she says. “It has been a wonderful experience.”
