Document text
CLOUDY Temp: 60 °F Wind: N at 6 mph Friday, June 20, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend May 2, 2003 Open house spotlights designs for Voorhies Mansion By JOHN DARLING for the Mail Tribune PHOENIX — The public is invited to the Sneak Peek community tour of the refurbishing of the historic Voorhies Mansion. The open house runs through Sunday and is highlighted by a "construction party" Saturday night, with all funds going toward children’s health care at Rogue Valley Medical Center. Fifteen local interior designers have displays up in the mansion’s rooms, showing how they will reshape it, mixing the 1898 mansion’s history with today’s edgy trends. The Sneak Peek — scheduled for 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. today, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday — costs $10 and includes a tour of the mansion and grounds. The complex, originally built by Joseph Stewart on 770 acres, was the birthplace of the Rogue Valley pear industry. He sold it in 1898 to Col. Gordon Voorhies, who became the chief pear baron of the region. Advertisement At the construction party, you can eat paella and tapas, dance to the music of Son Melao, an 11-piece Latin band from Eugene — and explore the mansion. Over the next four months the designers will each create a "show space," using pear color motifs — gold, tans, reds, yellows, greens. They’ll offer their creations and furnishings for public viewing in late August and September, then auction off the furnishings that mansion owners Tim and Anne Root don’t want to keep on Nov. 1. "Everyone wins," said Susie Penwell of Spaces.now in Medford. "Designers spread the latest fashions and market their skills and wares. (RVMC) raises funds for a wonderful cause. And a historic jewel gets brought into the 21st century, where it will soon serve as a chic restaurant." The spacious entry-living room (with fireplace) is being daringly redone by Danita Harwood of Henry Calvin Fabrics in silks, linens and other natural fabrics. The library will be sparingly crafted by Penwell and Carol Lowenberg, producers of the grand remake, while Kate Crowston of Kate Crowston Interiors in Medford will add vintage color and character to the dining room "with a hint of whimsy and attitude," she said. Crowston will stain the original wood floor in a bold harlequin pattern and sprinkle the room with dried arrangements and trade-labor hardware pieces from the pear boom era. She will create original furniture using salvaged wrought iron fixtures for legs. The dining room table will be antique doors set on fountain pedestals. Carolyn Allman will fashion the sunroom (off the dining room) as a casual eating-drinking area, pulling out the floor-to-ceiling windows and replacing them with screens for the summer. She will fill the space with vintage wicker furniture, an old tea cart and modern, angular end tables, painted in bold copper and navy tones to match striped lap siding and drapes. Local trompe l’oeil artist Cindy Shurter will render the sunroom ceiling a skyscape. (Trompe l’oeil is an illusionistic style of painting to make an image appear three-dimensional.) Under the hand of Donna Lundell, the downstairs Ladies’ Lounge will see its original wood floor for the first time in years. Its walls get faux treatment and wallpaper. An area rug goes down and tones will be gold, sage and light blue. Southern Oregon members of the American Society of Interior Design will join to remake the entrance, as well as the kitchen. The wall will be faux painted in "sage to ecru" with russet fabric tones in drapes. Counters will be granite and floors will be sandstone. Benefit party Saturday at Eden Valley What : Decorator’s Show Space, a party marking the start of the historic Voorhies Mansion redesign. Where : Eden Valley Orchards, 2310 Voorhies Road, off South Stage Road near its junction with South Pacific Highway between Medford and Phoenix, 512-2955. When: 5:30 p.m., Saturday, May 3. Cost : $75, open to public. Benefits : Rogue Valley Medical Center, children’s health care. Dress : Construction attire. Web : edenvalleyorchards.com John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times