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Area decorators redo home to benefit Akron Junior League; home ready to show in May

Mary Beth Breckenridge

Beacon Journal

Home-show junkies and decorating dreamers, be prepared to be inspired. The Junior League of Akron is bringing back its designer show house.

Interior decorators and designers from throughout the area are making over most of a nearly 70,000-square-foot house on Akron's North Portage Path for Designer ShowHouse 2004, a fund-raiser for programs supported by the Junior League. The newly redecorated house will be unveiled at a preview party May 14, then will be open to the public May 15 through 31.

Each of the 20-plus rooms has been assigned to a single designer or a pair working together, so the house will represent a wide variety of styles and talents. Rooms will range from contemporary to cottage and will include a bedroom made to resemble a walled garden, a vintage Parisian dressing room and a cigar lounge, said the Junior League's public relations chairwoman, Janis Worley.

It's the first time the Junior League has sponsored a show house since 1991. Members of the organization had presented show houses periodically since 1978, but ``I think they were just burned out'' from the enormousness of the undertaking, Worley said.

With home-decorating TV shows sparking a renewed interest in interior design, however, the time was right for the event's return.

A matter of trust

The house is a French Neoclassic home owned by Nancy Hough Hower, a sustaining member of the Junior League of Akron. It was built in 1960 by businesswoman Bina Carter and was later the home of television evangelist Rex Humbard and his family, who reportedly entertained such big-name guests as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson there.

Until work started on the show house, the interiors had gone largely unchanged since Humbard's wife, Maude Aimee, redecorated in the early 1970s using an abundance of flocked wallpaper.

In essence, Hower is surrendering her home to the decorators -- a leap of faith she admits makes her a little uneasy.

It's hard to watch the work in progress without being able to clearly envision to result, she said. She laughed when she recalled first seeing the crackle finish on the breakfast room ceiling, which gives it an aged look. ``My first reaction was... this is what I'm trying to avoid,'' she said.

Still, she said she likes watching the progress, and she's trusting in the designers' talent. ``It's sort of like a difficult pregnancy,'' she joked. ``It's a great blessing in the end, and you forget about all this pain.''

Hower can stipulate that some things must be left untouched and has veto power over permanent changes such as tearing down walls or replacing flooring materials, but ``other than that, they (the designers) basically had free rein,'' Worley said. There's a safety net, however: Anything Hower objects to will be returned to a neutral state after the show.

In addition to the interior, the house's landscape will be transformed.

Fantasy playhouses

Two fantasy playhouses will be built on the property, a reminder that one of the big beneficiaries of the fund-raiser will be children. Proceeds from the Designer ShowHouse 2004 will benefit a variety of programs, but key among them is Summit County Children Who Witness Violence, a collaborative effort between Akron Children's Hospital and 28 community partners that provides support services to children who have witnessed domestic abuse.

To raise money for the program, one of the playhouses will be auctioned at the opening gala, and the other will be raffled at the end of the show house.

Tickets to Designer ShowHouse 2004 are $15 in advance and $17 at the door. Groups of 10 or more pay $12 apiece.

Tickets may be bought from Junior League members or by calling the league headquarters at 330-836-4905. They're also available at Acme Fresh Market stores, as well as at Astin/Muckinsturm Interiors and Interior Design Studio, both in Medina; Pine Tree Barn in Wooster Township; Chez-Del stores and Marvin Interiors, all in Akron; Accentuations in Fairlawn; Dan West Interior Design in Jackson Township; and Distinctions, Garth Andrew's Associates and Kitchen Design Group, all in Bath Township.

Information on the show house is available at www.juniorleagueakron.org.