THE SOCIAL SCENE

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement. Please read our Privacy Policy.
© 2005 Pasadena Living Magazine. All rights reserved. 
Material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Pasadena Living Magazine. 

With a musical backdrop provided by the Thornton Protégé String Quartet from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, members of the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts (PSHA) and House designers joined together Friday evening at the gala premiere celebrating the opening of the 2005 Pasadena Showcase House of Design. This years’ house is a beautifully restored 20 ^th Century Italianate villa that has been updated to address the needs of a family living in the 21 ^st Century.

Premiere Night Chairs, Kathryn Hofgaarden and Gretchen McNally, organized the gala festivities of the evening. It began with a stroll through the Wandering Path and Forest and the Front Formal Garden and culminated at the front motor court and plaza with toasts of champagne and hors d’ oeuvres provided by The Kitchen for Exploring Foods.

Members, designers and guests were then invited by Jennifer Johnson, Benefit Chair, and her husband Greg, to tour the remainder of this year’s Showcase House and grounds, which includes a lovely Italianate villa and guest house designed in 1928 by architect Wallace Neff. Joining Jennifer and her husband were Doris Christy, President of PSHA, Susan Jackson, Assistant to the Benefit Chair, Phyllis Wilburn and Marti Farley, Interior Chairs and Exterior Chairs Delise Menik and Marilyn Anderson. The gala continued with dinner and dancing at the Athenaeum of the California Institute of Technology.

Friday night’s event was attended by almost 400 guests and marked the culmination of months of painstaking work and dedication by PSHA members, professional advisors and designers to transform the home and grounds into the 2005 Pasadena Showcase House of Design. The Showcase is open from April 17 through May 15, 2005.

Proceeds from the Showcase House ticket sales each year fund qualified organizations’ programs that provide opportunities to discover, enjoy and study music. The Thornton Protégé String Quartet i s a recent recipient of PSHA’s annual grant program. Through the years PSHA has donated nearly $14 million to youth music programs and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, including $1 million toward the construction of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. For example, PSHA underwrites a series of 6 summer concerts and provides tickets for 3,000 children to attend the Opening Night concert at the Hollywood Bowl each summer. It also funds 2 youth concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall each fall and supports the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Professional Development Program for Educators. Other grants fund symphonic or classical music, youth music education, music therapy and many other concerts and music programs throughout Southern California. Additionally, PSHA supports the Pasadena Showcase House Music Mobile™, the Pasadena Showcase House Youth Concert and the Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition.

The Pasadena Showcase House of Design will be open Tuesday through Sunday until May 17 ^th . Tickets are available through Ticketmaster at 213-365-3500 or 714-740-7878 and on-line at www.ticketmaster.com; or in person at any Ticketmaster outlet at the Wherehouse, Robinsons-May and Tower Records. Additional information about the 2005 Showcase House and PSHA as well as ticket order forms for mail or fax orders can be accessed on line at www.PasadenaShowcase.org. Please call 626-578-8500 for Recorded Showcase Information or 626-795-5107 to reach the PSHA Ticket Office.

Exterior Chairs Delise Menik (La Canada) and Marilyn Anderson (South Pasadena)

Marketplace Chairs Joy Sullivan (San Marino) and Kathy Feely (Pasadena) with Restaurant Chair Holly Hubbell (San Marino)

Interior Chairs Phyllis Wilburn (Pasadena) and Marti Farley (Altadena)