Decorators Show House Benefits SSO
SALISBURY, MD -- The Salisbury Symphony Orchestra at Salisbury State University plays to packed houses for its concerts, but this October it will fill a house of a different sort when it sponsors the Lower Shore's first ever Decorators Show House in Salisbury.
The former Allen House at the corner of Camden Avenue and Dogwood Drive is being transformed for the Decorators Show House, which will showcase the talents of local decorators and give those who tour the house the opportunity to buy pieces of the house's decor and take home valuable design ideas. The Show House will also feature an artisan boutique in the garage called Artistic Rhythms; the Second Stanza, a sale of gently used items to benefit the Salisbury Symphony Affiliated Youth Symphony Orchestra; a raffle of decorative items; and Prelude Alfresco, a preview champagne brunch on Sunday, October 8, with a brass quintet from the SSO. The fee for the brunch is $50 per person.
"It gives you an opportunity to see all of the talented design people who we have in the area, and learn techniques you can use in your home," said Jane Ellen Mengason, chair of the event. "It's basically a home and garden tour, but with the twist
that you can buy everything you see in the house and yard. Plus, in pictures that we'll have in each room, you'll be able to see the before and after." The Allen house dates to the 1920s. It was the home of the Allen family, which provided much of the land on which Salisbury State University was built. The house will become office space for the University after the Decorators Show House, one of many special events in the University's 75th anniversary year. Everyone is invited to visit during the Decorators Show House, with admission for $10.
Decorators will work for weeks to transform the empty house into a showcase for their talents and style. Each designer is tackling a room or space, dressing it up with paint and wallpaper and filling it with beautiful furnishings, artwork and designer touches. The yard and garden will be landscaped, too. Nearly everything the public sees will be for sale, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra.
The Decorators Show House fund-raiser will make it possible for the SSO to present four concerts this year instead of two, says Dr. Thomas G. Elliot, SSO conductor and music director. In addition to the December 2 Holiday Concert and the May 11, 2001, Spring Concert, SSO will have a special children's performance of Peter and the Wolf November 19 and a Bruckner Concert February 4, 2001. Orchestra patrons will pay the same for four concerts as they did for two.
The orchestra and its community advisory board are involved in every aspect of the Show House. SSO members will serve as docents on Sundays, and orchestra members will provide music in the house. During the Decorators Show House weekends, people will be welcome to linger as long as they like on the self-guided tour of the house. A light lunch will be available.
"People will spend quite a bit of time roaming, stopping, talking, looking, getting ideas, asking questions. It's just going to be a great time," said Elliot. "It's $10 worth of amazement."
The Show House will be open October 12-15, October 19-22, and October 26-29. Hours are 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursdays, 11 a.m.-
5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. Tickets will be sold at the door.
For information on the Decorators Show House, please call 410-543-6209, or check out the Web site at www.salisbury.edu/showhouse/.