BY DESIGN; HOME GETS COMPLETE MAKEOVER, LOCAL CHARITIES BENEFIT.

Byline: Janette Williams

It's been 35 years since the first Showcase House of Design made its modest Pasadena debut.

Back then, the Pasadena Junior Philharmonic Committee charged 7,500 visitors $2 each for the novelty of touring a decorated home. They served up cookies and punch - and timed the opening around the last day of racing at Santa Anita Park so they could landscape the exterior by digging up and transplanting the track's bedding plants.

This year, when the monthlong Showcase House opens April 18, an expected 50,000 visitors from all over the country will shell out $18 for the tour; an estimated 2,000 gourmet meals a day will be dished up at the full-service restaurant, some cooked by celebrity guest chefs; and a 40-boutique Marketplace will be set up for what has become the largest, most successful annual showcase house in the country.

The Junior Philharmonic committee has in effect become head of a multimillion-dollar enterprise, in the process becoming the single largest donor to the orchestra - $8 million so far - and fielding applications from decorators, designers, landscapers and artisans all over the Southland lining up to showcase their work.

The whole extravaganza, which cleared more than $700,000 in profits last year, is stage-managed by a core of 100 volunteers who work with teams of interior and landscaping designers on an annual three-month transformation of a local mansion - whose owners obligingly move out - into a showcase for the latest in interior and exterior decorating trends and materials.

``We're like general contractors,'' said former benefit chairperson and president Fran Biles, one of many volunteers on a recent morning keeping track of hordes of workers painting, papering, sanding, installing flooring and blacktopping the driveway of this year's house, a 13,000-square-foot 1927 storybook English manor on almost three acres in San Marino, complete with gardener's cottage.

Biles has watched the scope of the project mushroom and has seen the appeal of the event expand both for visitors and designers.

``At the beginning, we mostly saw older women, `Pasadena matrons' who visited the house, did some shopping and went away,'' Biles said. ``Now we're seeing couples of all ages coming and enjoying a whole day here. We used to have doughnuts and cookies that people made, cans of soda and box wine. Now we're into gourmet wines and foods, breakfasts, lunches and dinners. It's become a Friday night destination for couples ... People are coming from New York, from England, from all over. It really does have a vast appeal.''

That sort of exposure brings interior designers Sherry Stein and Albert Janz of Pasadena's Henry Johnstone & Co. back year after year and makes many decorators and manufacturers willing to underwrite the costs, which can range from $5,000 to $50,000 for a room.

``For us, it actually gives our clients a sense of confidence in us,'' Janz said. ``Showcase helps put our name out in the community more than any actual immediate economic benefit.''

Showcase has also led to their rooms being photographed for decorating magazines and books, they said.

But what they really love is having a way of showing people their work unfiltered through a client's taste, budget or existing furnishings, Stein and Janz said.

``There are more ongoing benefits than someone saying, `I'll hire you!' That doesn't happen as often as you might hope,'' Stein joked. ``But people keep programs and call you three years later.''

First-time showcase decorator Greg Parker of Torrance-based Parker West Interiors did a room last year for a design house in Whittier, sponsored by the Whittier Historical Society. He jumped at the chance of working in Pasadena's showcase, even if it was one of the less glamorous spaces - the former servants' stairway and hall.

``It's a wonderful marketing tool to show the work I am capable of doing,'' Parker said, looking around at the area now being converted into an elegant art-filled staircase, marble-floored hall and bath. ``But it was challenging - I had to do a lot of problem-solving.''

The last-minute frenzy is ratcheting up several notches as opening day gets closer by the minute.

``This isn't fluff and puff,'' said committee member Jennifer Johnson, pointing out colleagues negotiating ankle-deep water and mud while coordinating the buzz of activity. ``After tackling these projects, the scope of the work, I do think that this is a group of very capable women with a very strong work ethic.''

THE FACTS

The show: 35th annual Pasadena Junior Philharmonic Committee's Showcase House of Design and Garden Tour.

When: 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays throug Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; closed Mondays. Sunday through May 16.

Where: A 13,000-square-foot San Marino estate built in 1927 on 2.64 lush acres.

Access: Free parking and shuttle from the Rose Bowl. Allow a half-hour transit time.

Attractions: The Showcase House will offer a restaurant, marketplace art and boutique sales, fashion shows, entertainment and garden tours.

Tickets: $18 on weekdays, $22 on weekends; available at Ticketmaster.

Proceeds benefit: The Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, youth music programs such as the Music Mobile Program, annual youth concert, annual instrumental competition and community music grants to schools for music education.

Information: 24-hour information line, [phone], including information on group rates and special tour times.

CAPTION(S):

9 Photos

Photo: (1--2--Cover--Color) Home, Sweeter Home

Pros orchestrate transformation of Showcase House of Design

(3--Color) The Showcase House of Design's remodeled family room features an aquarium that is also visible in the bar and snack area on the other side of the room divider.

(4--Color) The master bathroom is anchored by painted flooring and a matching rug. The window area was extended to add space.

(5--Color) A chaise lounge gives this teen's bedroom a touch of class.

(6--Color) The San Marino estate's gardener's cottage also got a makeover.

(7--Color) Jeweled knobs accent a cabinet in the teen's bedroom.

(8--Color) The gardener's cottage echoes its natural theme in etched glass.

(9) Landscapers prepare to install a water fountain at the Showcase House, which is an annual fund-raiser for the Pasadena Junior Philharmonic Committee. The house is open to the public through May 16.

Photos by Walt Mancini