Vivid earth tones, ornate detailing and eclectic artwork characterize one end of the design spectrum on view at this year’s Junior Symphony Guild Designer Showhouse – one of Denver’s popular and long-standing home and design events.
Cool, mushroomy hues fused with streamlined furnishings and bubbly graphics define the other end of the aesthetic spectrum highlighted during this affair opening Saturday in Denver’s Central Platte Valley and running through May 20.
Twenty decorators and multiple furniture outlets created the eye candy for this 32nd annual installment of the showhouse, which benefits children’s music-education programs. But one noteworthy detail this year reflects a departure from the norm: Instead of rehabbing a pre-existing historic home or palatial suburban property, this year’s showhouse is actually two townhouses with identical layouts. This affords visitors the chance to see two different takes on the same spaces.
Symphony guild president Marie Cramer says showhouse planners asked themselves one simple question before selecting the site: What do people want to see?
“Historic homes are wonderful,” she says. “But right now, this is what people want to see – new construction and downtown living.”
Despite ongoing work at Central Platte Valley’s Inca 29 development, design teams took over two four-story, 3,100-square-foot townhouses located in the shadow of Coors Field. Their goal: outfit one of the homes for a “modern family” in need of comfortable yet stylish digs, and the other townhouse for a “global couple” with a lifetime of travel souvenirs.
“We wanted to show that there are so many different people living downtown now,” Cramer says. “It’s not just single rich guys.”
Staff writer Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-954-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
