Pasadena Showcase House of Design Throws Empty House Party

Laughing while the party bustled around them in the gardens of the Empty House, Cheryl Zimmer and Dana Marevich reminisced the fond memories of their friendship that all began at another Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts twenty years before.

Marevich had worked for Bullocks at the time, the end all be all of department stores. Bullocks would dress the Pasadena Showcase House committee members in fine dresses and bring a jeweler that would garb the ladies “dripping in diamonds.”

Times have changed, but the Pasadena Showcase House continues to throw a stunning Empty House Party with scrumptious delicacies in every room of the gutted home that will see transformation in a matter of four months.

“Were pleased people are responding to the house so well and coming to celebrate 50 years of the Pasadena Showcase House. After four years we’re glad to be back in Pasadena, its special for the 50th house,” co-chair of the event Vicki McChiggage said.

The grand 1915 English country estate boasts seven bedrooms, ten baths, five fireplaces, oak floors, redwood wall paneling and floor to ceiling leaded glass windows. The house sits on 3.5 wooded acres and features a pool, bathhouse, river rock springhouse, tennis and badminton courts, a greenhouse and a carriage house.

At the time the house was built, his and her bathrooms were the usual. The current master bedroom will be transformed by turning one bathroom into a luxuriously elegant dream closet with white paneling trimmed in gold and the other into a spacious bathroom.

The 33 designers walk through or around the house one time and then cast a vision. Their grandeur ideas will entirely transform the English cottage home to a modern resort that will utilize eco-friendly landscaping.

One of only four designers from Pasadena, Cynthia Lambakis and Samantha Williams of Ederra Design Studio will participate in Showcase House for the first time by designing the Nanny’s Room. Envision a daybed, an elegant chair and creamy tones.

While the two ladies loved those days of glamour and red carpet before the time of Hollywood, the long time friends Zimmer and Marevich are connected by their deep care for giving musical experiences to budding students to open their worlds and horizons.

From the Music Mobile that gives 3rd graders hands on instrument experience to a concert in Walt Disney Hall concert experience for 4th graders, Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts views music as essential to a child’s education. The Instrumental Competition rewards musicians between the ages of 16-24 with monetary awards that have totaled more than $550,000.

Founded in 1948, Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts is an all-volunteer organization that has enriched thousands of lives with music.

The 50th Pasadena Showcase House will open in April. Visit https://www.pasadenashowcase.org/ for more information.