Choose your own ADVENTURE
Show house offers exotic decor, plus sweets, to support music programs
Lions and tigers and bears — close by!
The 2017 Symphony Show House is in a neighborhood tucked into the heart of the Adventure District, less than a mile (as the golden-breasted starling flies) from furry neighbors at the Oklahoma City Zoo.
The designer showcase, a project of the Oklahoma City Orchestra League, is an attraction among attractions this year. The fundraiser is open through May 21 at 4808 Rose Rock Drive, just off Grand Boulevard between NE 36 and NE 50.
The Adventure District, in northeast Oklahoma City near the Interstate 35/44 interchange, features Science Museum Oklahoma, Oklahoma State Firefighters Museum, Remington Park Racing Casino, in addition to the Oklahoma City Zoo & Botanical Gardens.
“Almost all the rooms have a nod to that,” said Jo Meacham, design chairman. “There’s elements from the zoo, the botanical gardens, Remington Park, the firefighters museum, all of that.”
Tickets are $12 each online at OKCOrchestraLeague.org or through authorized outlets and $15 at the door. Authorized outlets are Carte’s Interiors, 507 S Coltrane Road in Edmond; Traditions Fine Furniture and Design, 3337 S Boulevard in Edmond; Mister Robert Fine Furniture, 109 E Main St. in Norman; and Mathis Brothers Furniture, 3434 W Reno Ave. in Oklahoma City.
The league has added a sweet note to this year’s Symphony Show House with Dessert First from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 13 and May 20.
For an additional $25 apiece, or $40 for two, available at the door or through OKCOrchestraLeague.org, patrons can enjoy chocolate from 42nd Street Candy Co. and craft beer from Anthem Beer and Vanessa House Beer Co. The Black Scintilla and Naifeh Jewelry will present a fashion show. Mercedes-Benz will provide parking.
This year’s show home was built in 2007 and is a sprawling wonderland, 9,943 square feet stretching across three lots with seven bedrooms, seven baths and a media room.
What was once an outdoor pool out back has been encased in a separate entertainment area with heated floors, a fire pit, a full kitchen and guest rooms upstairs and down. In other words, there’s plenty of space for designers to work and play.
New venue
The Symphony Show House often is staged in a vintage home with a layout caught in time that doesn’t necessarily lend itself to current design treatments. The newer venue this year may prove to be more designer friendly, said Joan Bryant, publicity chairman.
“For designers, it’s easier to come into a relatively new space,” she said.
Designers took advantage of it.
The wood-paneled library offers an air of English country house while a nearby bedroom is decked out in bold colors with a glittering light fixture overhead that Meacham said was designed by Estee Lauder’s granddaughter.
The living room and kitchen feature a decidedly lighter palette, while the cabana decor takes its cues from the bright blue waters of the swimming pool.
Nods to the neighborhood are woven throughout, as subtle as the animal prints underfoot in the master bathroom to as bold as the brass monkey on a shelf in the library, its tail curled around a bottle of wine.
Palettes range from the clean, crisp white and pastels in the living room to jewel tones in a bedroom where a glittering light fixture of purple, pink and clear crystals hangs overhead.
Almost everything on display is for sale, though the items have to remain until the show house closes. Shoppers also can browse through jewelry, gifts, paintings, clothing, patio decor and more in the boutique set up in the three-car garage.
The house sits on about 2.15 acres against a thick backdrop of trees and also features a separate guesthouse that isn’t part of the show. The property is listed for $1,650,000 with Audra Montgomery of Metro First Realty, 3636 E Interstate 35 Frontage Road in Edmond.
Money raised through the show house goes into the league’s music competitions and education programs. A hallway downstairs is lined with framed photos and newspaper clippings of those programs over the years.
Looking them over, Bryant pointed first to one frame and then another, smiling.
“This is why we do what do” she said.