NOTHING SHORT OF A SHOWCASE THE DOORS TO AN ALTADENA VILLA WILL OPEN SUNDAY FOR THE ANNUAL DESIGN HOME TOUR.

Byline: Linda Hutchinson Staff Writer

It meets all the requirements: It's big, there's a sprawling lawn, and it has just undergone an incredible transformation. Get ready for the 2002 Pasadena Showcase of Design home tour.

The villa, which looks like it's been uprooted from Andalusia, Spain, and set into the Altadena hillside, will swing open its doors for tours on Sunday and remain open through May 19.

Now, after roughly four months of renovation, the house - dubbed ``Overlook'' by a former owner - as well as the guest house, the grounds and the garage, is ready to display the talents of the 24 interior designers and 20 exterior designers who made it happen.

The house is a bit of a tease, partially veiled by trees and foliage as you enter from the driveway. Built in 1915, this 12,000-square-foot villa-style home has curved arches and a generous breezeway that comes into full view from the front lawn. The rich ocher-colored exterior and the muted red tile roof immediately set the tone for the color palette throughout the rest of the house.

While many of the house colors gravitate toward warm tones, like browned-down yellows and muted brick reds, several rooms - among them the master bedroom done in a light mint green and a second-floor sun room dominated by a rich, luminous tourmaline blue - offer some cool-tone colors as well.

The second-floor mezzanine is a real area of note. Designer Linda Allen took a little and made a lot of this space by steeping it in Spanish-style elements: lentil-colored walls accented with metal filigree, taffeta and velvet fabrics, and generous use of hanging beadwork. Here, spice colors rule: deep reds, saucy mustard, dark teal and jewel tones.

The men's study, done by designer Carolyn Oliver-Broder, is a personal favorite, particularly for the adventurous use of upholstered striped wall covering (incredible!); a renovated closet-turned-Turkish-coffee bar; and hand-carved wooden window screens.

A real room outside the box this year is the teen retreat up on the third floor. It's a modern, fun room that sports pop art on the walls and includes wild details - a Volkswagen bug that seems to burst out of the wall, a home theater complete with movie seats, a Foosball table, a popcorn machine, and a Coca-Cola vending machine.

When you take the tour, try to direct your attention away from all the lovely furnishings and accessories to notice some extremely well-done, creative structural details. A hot item on the design plate is wall treatments of all types: upholstered, papered, tiled, built-up or faux-finished - real attention has been paid to this important canvas.

You'll find creativity in the ceilings as well: The ceiling in the front entry has a frieze painted on wallpaper material rather than on the actual ceiling.

Joani Stewart and Kelly Turner of Montana Ave. Interiors in Santa Monica wanted the entry colonnade to greet you warmly with an Old World feeling as you walk up to the house, and the draperies gracing the walkway's arches provide the most unique example of this effort. Although the drapes are made out of Sunbrella, an outdoor fabric, they give the space casual elegance and create a patio feel. They also provide some shade for the sunny spot.

Gregory Parker, a South Pasadena designer who did the Showcase House kitchen, kept the actual cooking area compact and efficient, while expanding the space to allow a breakfast and casual entertaining area.

Showcase House benefit chairwoman Vicki McCluggage said the designers have been respectful of the house's architecture. ``It's exciting when you see it all come together,'' she said.

McCluggage said that one of her favorite rooms is the ball room, which has been transformed into a living-room space. With a cavernous room to fill, designer Michael Berman used large pieces, including a piano, a vintage bar from an old Hollywood hotel, a huge three-part sofa connected by hinges that he designed himself and a huge Buddha head.

``When you see that furniture come off the truck, you'd think it was for a giant, but in the space, it all really, really works,'' said McCluggage.

In addition, 20 exterior landscapes are part of the tour, including a koi pond fashioned out of a very old swimming pool, a vegetable garden and a lawn with a life-size chess board.

McCluggage noted that the home tour is a lot of work for the sponsoring group, the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts Committee, but that it is rewarding.

``The success of the project is really borne out when we can give money away to really worthy causes. We have to keep that in mind,'' she said. ``There's no question that the workload is very challenging. There are a lot of difficult things going on in the world, but I do think there's still a little room in the world to appreciate beauty.''

Staff writers Michelle J. Mills and Martin S. Gonzalez contributed to this report.

IF YOU GO

What: The Pasadena Showcase House of Design; tours begin Sunday.

Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday; 9:30 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Through May 19. Tickets: $17 to $25. Call [phone] or visit www.pasadenashowcase.org.

What else: There is an on-site restaurant - Cafe Overlook - and a marketplace on the grounds.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- cover -- color) Altadena's ``Overlook'' estate, above, is the 2002 Pasadena Showcase House of Design. Right, a stone staircase leads into one of several gardens.

(3 -- color) Nose of a Volkswagen Beetle pokes into the third-floor teen loft designed by Piana Design of Valencia.

(4 -- 6 -- color) Breakfast area and marble-topped island in kitchen, top, designed by Parker West Interiors of South Pasadena. Outdoor drapes, left, offer shade on the colonnade by Montana Ave. Interiors of Santa Monica. Life-size chess set on the East Lawn, above.

Photos by Keith Birmingham and Walt Mancini/Staff Photographers