We didn’t even know house concerts were a thing until around the middle of 2016, when local artist Sandra Dolores Swanfeldt  invited us to one at her house in April of that year. We had a great time and what I loved most about it was that, unlike in the clubs where half of the audience is listening and the other is talking loudly so as to be heard over the music, everyone was there to hear the words Sandra wrote and the melodies she composed. I’m sure that contributed to her being right at the top of her game that night.

Maybe a week or so later, Sandra emailed me and some others, asking if we would consider hosting a concert at our house. My first thought was “Hell, no. That sounds like a lot of work.” But I thought about it a little longer and remembered one of the things we had heard about our house, that its original owners, The Dariotis family, had brought the Spaghetti Factory franchise to Sacramento and supposedly had a hand in designing the house for entertaining - they had two ovens, two stoves, and a cavernous "great room" that can accommodate large gatherings - and frequently had big groups of guests join them. So, I thought “we really could take advantage of this house and create a space to hear some of our favorite local artists.” So, that’s what we’ve done. Sandra performed at our first concert in July, 2016 to a full house of very enthusiastic music lovers and, in August 2024, we hosted our 40th show. 

With very few exceptions, the artists we ask to perform are local or at least have established local connections. They’re musicians we love and from whom we want to hear more, in a setting conducive to a strong bond between artist and audience. So far, it seems to be working out pretty well for both.

Mark and Emily