SHOW UP FOR SHOW HOUSE
Symphony fundraiser tunes up
The 51st annual Symphony Designer Show House, a 1936 white-columned, Georgian mansion, will be open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 4-19 at 729 NW 38 in OKC’s historic Crown Heights neighborhood.
The event is a fundraiser by the Oklahoma City Orchestra League for music education and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic. Many furnishings and accessories will be for sale.
The 10,993-square-foot home, which “sits majestically ... and commands a sweeping view of a picturesque park,” is historically known as the Dolese mansion, having belonged to Roger Dolese, son of Peter, one of the four brothers who started Dolese Bros. Co. in 1902. Roger Dolese took over the concrete company in 1944.
And it’s a show house repeat. The home, owned by Dr. Susan Chambers, was the site of the fundraiser in 1997.
History of the 2024 Symphony Designers Show House in Oklahoma City
‘Young Roger Dolese brought his wife Ardith from Detroit to Oklahoma City for their honeymoon, in the then eight-room house. Roger came here to learn the concrete business from his two uncles who did not have any heirs,” volunteer spokesman Joan Bryant said.
They bought the house next door in the 1940s and connected the two houses into what has become an OKC landmark, she said.
Chambers and the late Dr. Kyle Toal bought the home in 1997, installed a swimming pool in 1999, and in 2007-2008 finished renovations started by the Dolese family.
“Local designer Jason Johnston did a boy’s bedroom, and this started 17 years of friendship and renovations with the doctors,” Bryant said. “Jason found the original blueprints, with the help of a safe cracker, in the basement, and discovered the original plans were to combine the two houses with a large staircase conservatory entry, so access was available to both the first and second stories, instead of just the first floor.”
Some facts about the 2024 Symphony Designers Show House in OKC
• Address: 729 NW 38.
• Hours: 11 a.m to 5 p.m. May 4-19.
• Features include: Ballroom in the basement, 14 bathrooms, 10 bedrooms, an elevator (not working), a grand staircase in the conservatory that connects the joined houses, a Teddy Roosevelt balcony overlooking the pool and cabana in the back yard, and a lantern/chandelier on the front porch that is one of only three in the world, the others in a hotel in Europe and in the White House entry hall.
• Tickets: $25 per person at the door, or $20 in advance online at okcphil.org.
• Participating designers: Amini’s Galleria, Bob Mills Furniture, Castle Rock Countertops, EM Property Maintenance and Construction, Frontier Outdoor, Henry Home Interiors, Holly Flinton Design Inc., Home Dazzle, Jason George Interior Detail & Design, Johnson Manor, Kimberly Morgan Artist in Acrylics on Canvas Works, Lorec Ranch, Loree Johns Interiors,
Also: Lynda Savage Art, Mathis Design Studio, Mister Robert Fine Furniture & Design, Norwalk Interiors, OTW Interiors/Suburban Furniture, Paint Inspirations, Tom James Co., Traditions Fine Furniture & Design, University of Central Oklahoma School of Design, VanStavern Design Group, William & Lauren
Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize. You can support Richard’s work, and that of his colleagues, by purchasing a digital subscription to The Oklahoman. You can get 6 months of subscriber-only access for $1.