The event:

Tri Kappa's Annual Mental Health Coffee

Where:

At the Elkhart home of Dr. Bruce Newswanger and Tim Portolese

When:

Sept. 15

How big was the crowd?

There was a dual opportunity to view the Newswanger/Portolese "Italian Villa" on the upper St. Joe River. Four hundred attended the three-hour afternoon open house and approximately 600 attended the three-hour hors d'oeuvres, champagne and live jazz tour in the evening.

What did they eat?

Each year, the 59 members of Tri Kappa host the coffee and make enough desserts to feed hundreds in attendance. Tri Kappa member Michelle Wells is the resident baker. "I bake each cookie before I give them to the women. That way, if there are any problems, they can call me and I can help," said Wells.

This year's recipes included: Chocolate-covered cherry, caramel cashew, sweet creme puffs, mocha cheesecake bar, mint chocolate brownies, lemon bars, chocolate caramel delight, peanut butter Heath brownies and seven-layer bars.

Chef Jason Koeppel and his crew from The Beiger Mansion Inn in Mishawaka served the evening's guests from under a tent in the backyard of the "villa."

Koeppel prepared: Torte, chicken and vegetable skewers; brochette and toast; liver pate; fruit, steamed vegetable and pita chips dip; a variety of single-serve pizza; peanut butter balls; creme puffs; chocolate eclairs and biscotti.

Who provided entertainment?

Up from the river and a few feet from the food tent, a jazz trio played during the three-hour evening open house. The group confessed to never having played together prior to that evening, but listening to Marty Werling, president of Sights and Sounds Inc., and Duane Lightner and Dan Degucz from Woodwind Brasswind, one would never have guessed it.

The house:

Perhaps local real estate agent Duane Cook said it best after viewing the home. "How is this going to be written? There are not enough adjectives to describe this 'wow' house." Drawing on their German, Swiss, Italian and French heritages, this "wow" house was the vision of Newswanger and Portolese.

Both men have traveled extensively and the Italian gourmet kitchen was patterned after the kitchens in Tuscany where both men have taken cooking lessons.

There are four stations: Cooking, baking, entertaining and cleaning. The three sinks are made of pounded copper imported from Italy. Lighted glass block runs the entire length of the workspace in the kitchen and the entire length of the bar work surface because the homeowners know the importance of lighting and the effect it has on a room.

The 10,000-square-foot home has four fireplaces and seven flat-screen televisions. Perhaps the most unique television is hidden behind a two-way mirror over the wine cabinets in the bar area. When not playing, the visitor has no idea the mirror hides a television. The homeowners wanted a mix of elegance and casual and a home that would flow. The use of flooring, colors and columns moves the visitor smoothly from one room to another carrying all three ideas from one room and from one floor to the next.

The master suite is on the main floor and, as do the other four upstairs bedrooms, contains a raised seating area for reading and relaxation. The tray ceilings in the home were used on purpose to give a feel of welcome wrapping around the individual. The wrought iron used in the staircase and in the balcony overlooking the great room was made in France and the front doors are from Colorado. The balustrades were hand-turned by a craftsman from New Orleans and delivered three days before Hurricane Katrina.

 

Seen and heard:

Jeffrey Helman, president of Helman Sechrist Architecture, had the monumental task of taking the dreams of Newswanger and Portolese and shaping them into reality. "Remember, this is a renovation. We started with the existing home and started with their vision of a Tuscan villa. ... This was an ordinary 1960s two story. So, the question was, how do we get from there to here? We were able to accomplish that transformation for two reasons. One, the vision of Tim and Bruce and, two, take out the plans that didn't work. The signature Tuscany towers are the theme of the home," said Helman.

Diane Krill had just finished her tour of the home and was descending the main staircase leading back to the entrance when she made a tongue-in-cheek observation. "The first thing I want to do is to change my address to this house. The use of color is incredible; the artwork is magnificent and I could live in just the kitchen alone. Everything flows from room to room. You leave the eggplant room with the mustard accents and that leads you right into the mustard-colored room," said Krill.

Katie Schenk was in the backyard admiring the view and had to think awhile before she could verbalize her opinion. "I don't even know where to begin. It is awesome and absolutely beautiful. The colors are so comfortable and beautifully blended from one room to the next. I could live here. It is not just showy. I love the pot-filler faucet they have in the kitchen. I can see using it to fill my big pasta pans," said Schenk.

Parting thoughts:

Rita Holtz, this year's Tri Kappa chairwoman, could not have been happier with the patronage at and the monetary support for this year's Mental Health Coffee.

"This was a most unusual coffee. Bruce and Tim did so much of the fundraising themselves. They sent letters and made phone calls. They were totally involved in securing much of the underwriting for the event. The $46,000 raised will go to all of the mental health agencies (as) in the past, as well as some additional ones because of the amount of money raised," said Holtz.