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DESIGNER SHOW HOUSE IN CAPE MAY WILL OPEN JUNE 30 FOR TOURS

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CAPE MAY, N.J. — The character of an old house is reflected by the architectural styles that mark its history, and the 1847 Memucan Hughes House at 608 Hughes Street is no exception.

The house will be the site of the 2007 Designer Show House, presented by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts (MAC), and open to the public June 30–October 16. Admission is $20. Dinner and show house tour combinations will be available on select evenings.

The property is owned by Bill Saponaro, a local businessman who also owned the two previous Designer Show Houses. He turned a 1915 Craftsman-style home on Washington Street into the first Designer Show House in 2005, and last year converted the 1879 Franklin Street Church into three luxury townhouse units, which were opened to the public during the summer.

This year’s 1847 manor house with its restored carriage house and gardens is located on one of Cape May’s most prestigious streets. The home has 11 bedrooms, six large bathrooms, formal parlors, covered porches, dining room, kitchen and a library or study, with a total of 21 design areas in the house. Designers and suppliers are busy at work transforming the property into a showplace.

From the sidewalk, the house present an elegant Federal-style arrangement. On the left is the original three-bay house with a door on the side, once called a “half house.” The Hughes family, however, wanted a whole house and the addition with three windows was added on the right side of the original Federal door with its trademark fan light.

A late Nineteenth Century renovation introduced two-over-two, double-hung windows, probably replacing the more traditional six-over-six windows of Federal design. Such changes were sometimes indicators of wealth and position.

The large dormers in the roof were probably an early Twentieth Century alteration, adding head room to the third floor rooms, and flooding them with light.

Another example of the changes the house underwent is obvious in the rear of the house, where one sees a late Nineteenth Century Mansard roof, rather than the earlier peaked roof design typical of the Federal period. The Carriage House also features a Mansard roofline.

The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts (MAC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Cape May’s heritage. For information, 609-884-5404, 800-275-4278 or www.capemaymac.org.