Decorators transform an Eggertsville estate, and everyone’s invited
Decorators transform E.B. Green’s Wallace Estate
Published: April 24, 2009, 12:30 am
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What can $15 buy you these days? How about a stroll through Provence? A weekend at the beach? Or a romantic getaway in a secret apartment in Paris?
For the price of an admission ticket, decorators will visually transport you to these places and more when Decorators’ Show House 2009 opens its doors to the public beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday.
And all for a good cause. The event, which takes place every other spring and is co-sponsored by the Junior League of Buffalo and The Buffalo News, has raised more than $3 million for local charitable projects since the first show house opened in 1981.
This year’s house – E.B. Green’s Wallace Estate – is located on 2.4 acres at 697 LeBrun Road, Eggertsville, and features 55 decorated spaces.
Among them: “The French Mistress” room, presumably an apartment in Paris – for relaxing, entertaining and primping, according to designer Ann Medinac. The “Stepping through Provence” grand staircase by Terry Litzinger. The “Tomorrow’s News Today” home office – steel blue with white trim and chartreuse accents – by Millington Lockwood Business Interiors.
And Suzy Redino’s “Life’s a Beach” carriage house, complete with fish-shaped drawer pulls in the kitchen.
This is the first show house to be located outside—but near — the city of Buffalo.
But, like the urban gems before it, the house offers plenty of space (close to 9,000 square feet including a carriage house/garage); two staircases; lush landscaping and such unforgettable features as original tile work — some quite colorful—and magnificent windows.
From now through May 17, it’s the place to take a close look at design trends, color schemes, fabrics, accessories, faux painting, furniture placement, lighting and artwork.
And to pick up some pointers. Visitors will see, for example, how Michael Donnelly and Tony Rogers picked a reddish color for the walls of a sitting room in the second-floor “Guest Suite Retreat,” based on the color of a peony in the chair fabric.
Elsewhere in the house, there’s a teen girl’s hangout with black, peel-off picture frames covering the walls. A pink and white nursery with bunny-motif wallcovering and silk dupioni pleated balloon shades. A meditation room and solarium.
And a living room painted a glamorous shade called Purple Haze with accents of gray and silver. One highlight: the 10-foot long, box-pleated “waterfall” window treatments in gray silk — with rhinestones, to boot.
“Gray is the new neutral, and purple is really popular in the design world. It works well in the room,” noted Karen Bialkowski, of the Kittinger Gallery.
Deborah Hill’s second-floor bedroom, part of the “Guest Suite Retreat,” features “Providence Olive” walls with silklike fabrics in a similar, soothing hue.
“I like tone-on-tone,” said Hill, who also had the cornices at the windows monogrammed for a personal touch.
And the marigold yellow breakfast room is so cheerfully decorated, almost anyone can become a Morning Person.
Even those working long hours, which was the case this week as decorators, designers, painters, contractors, landscapers, craftsmen, Junior League members and other volunteers worked feverishly toward the finish line.
Mike Williams and Derek McGee, of Brudstone Construction in Tonawanda, handcrafted the new third-floor bar room kitchen, and also did some custom cabinetry work in the carriage house kitchen.
Choosing a soft silver and French blue paint palette, Terry Litzinger, of Terry Litzinger Decorative Painting & Design, used a damask motif and “candlelight” finish to create an almost twinkling effect on the walls of the grand staircase.
And as part of transforming the carriage house and giving it a “Life’s a Beach” theme, Suzy Redino, of Cherry Tree Design, spent five hours alone wrapping jute around the railing installed up a flight of stairs.
Welcome to the world known as Decorators’ Show House.
The house, which was designed in the French Provincial Revival style by the Edward B. Green & Sons-Albert H. Hopkins architectural firm, was built for David Wallace and completed in 1929.
Two other families lived there until James P. and Josephine S. Coppola bought it in 1964. Josephine “Judge” Coppola— who recently relocated to a newly built home — and her husband, who died in 2002, had nine children. The house is for sale but has not yet been listed.
As in the past, decorators supply the materials — which range from refurbished roadside finds to pricey high-end fabrics. Some of the furniture and accessories come from their own showrooms; others are borrowed or purchased.
An added bonus for showgoers: Many items in the rooms are for sale. But buyers must be patient: You must wait until Show House closes next month to pick them up.
Here’s what you need to know about Decorators’ Show House 2009:
Place: E. B. Green’s Wallace Estate, 697 LeBrun Road, Eggertsville.
Dates: Saturday through May 17.
Hours: 10 a. m. to 1 p. m. and 6 to 9 p. m., Tuesdays through Fridays; 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. Saturdays; 11 a. m. to 5 p. m. Sundays. Mondays are for previously arranged private tours and reserved-time tickets only.
Admission: $15 at the door.
Restrictions: Last admission is 30 minutes prior to closing. No infants or children under age 10. The house is not wheelchair-accessible.
Parking: Street parking; watch for posted signs.
Tip: Come the first week to avoid long lines and crowds.
Additional attractions: Visit La Petite Fleur Boutique and Cafe. Check out the landscaping and outdoor furnishings.
For more information: Call Junior League headquarters at 884-8865. Or visit the Web site at www.jlbuffalo.org — Susan Martin
smartin@buffnews.com
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