Designers’ Digs tour will allow a glimpse of former Symphony Showhouses
Interior designer Mitzi Beach likes to refer to the kind of design she specializes in as ageless design.
That’s because the elements she incorporates when designing homes often can benefit all ages living in a home and not just those who are aging. For example, an open space under a bathroom vanity will accommodate not only someone who needs to roll up in a wheelchair but a small child who can more easily place a stool to use the sink.
In 2004, Beach started redesigning her home at 12 N. Cypress to incorporate what’s become known as aging in place elements, or what she likes to call ageless design. The remodel of the 1930s home, once owned by a Beech Aircraft executive, took a year and a half.
Next weekend, guests can tour her home, along with the residences of four other Wichita designers, during the Designers’ Digs tour, a project by the Women’s Association of the Wichita Symphony. The first such tour was in 2016.
The designers on the tour are those who helped design past Symphony Showhouses, residences that were redesigned and then opened for tours to support the symphony. The last Symphony Showhouse event was in 2011.
The designers and homes on this year’s tour are: Mitzi Beach, 12 N. Cypress Drive; Jan Bishop, 10222 E. Summerfield St.; Vicki Flores, 4112 N. Plum Tree St., Lizanne Guthrie, 2735 N. Wilderness Court; and Jerry Olson, 134 N. Longford.
Beach’s home features aging in place elements, while Flores’ home is ADA accessible. Tourgoers will also want to keep an eye out for an impressive man-cave in Bishop’s home, while the homes of Guthrie and Olson showcase their love of culture and art.
For Beach, incorporating elements like better lighting, limited area rugs and grab bars means making safer living spaces for a home’s residents.
“And everyone deserves to be safe,” she said, explaining why she considers aging in place elements to be ageless design.
The bathroom is often the targeted room when it comes to incorporating aging in place elements, and Beach’s home features what’s called a barrier-free bathroom. For example, the open and airy blue-and-white bathroom has a zero-clearance shower so it doesn’t require any physical stepping in or out. Rather than a standard height toilet, where the rim measures 14 or 15 inches from the floor, the home’s bathroom has what’s known as a comfort height toilet of 17 inches, allowing for less of a squatting position but more of a standard seating position while using the toilet. The space under the tiled bathroom vanity is open, another aging in place feature.
The all-white bars in the her home’s bathroom blend in nicely with the white walls, not giving it a medical feel.
“Handrails and grab bars now are so beautiful. They can really be very, very decorative,” said Beach, about available options
All of the home’s doors feature lever handles, which are easier to grasp than a round door handle. The home also has all hard surface flooring. There’s a long runner, but it’s obvious, of heavier weight and is securely positioned with a sticky pad, she pointed out.
“You don’t want something lightweight that will be slipping around all over the place,” she said.
The home also features 36-inch doorways and zero-clearance entrances, including from the door accessing the home from the garage.
Designers’ Digs tour
What: A tour of the homes of five of Wichita’s top designers and former Symphony Showhouse designers, hosted by the Women’s Association of the Wichita Symphony to benefit the symphony
Where: 12 N. Cypress Drive 10222 E. Summerfield St., 4112 N. Plum Tree St., 2735 N. Wilderness Court and 134 N. Longford
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9
Tickets: For a one-time tour through each residence — $30 in advance at www.wso.org or $35 at the door of any home. The website also lists sales outlets selling advance tickets.
To kick off the Designers’ Digs tour, an opening gala will happen at the home of Ken and Tena Stoppel, 205. N. Roosevelt. The Stoppels’ home was the first Symphony Showhouse. The $100 per person ticket for the gala includes one ticket for the Designers’ Digs tour.
This story was originally published August 29, 2018 at 6:34 PM.