The New Breed of Showhouse
Luxury Designer Showhouse. As a designer, nothing makes me happier than the opportunity to visit a designer showhouse and absorb all that inspiration and creativity. I have always adored showhouses, model homes, and house museums. My favorite vacation past time is touring any available properties and soaking in the details. I visit the local showhouses whenever possible and have even designed a couple of showhouse rooms myself in the Boston Junior League Showhouses early in my career.
Showhouses are packed with ideas and inspiration and creativity limited only by the constraints of the property or the designers budget. They are a clue to the latest trends in design and a peek at the aesthetic preferences of each designer as they are not beholden to the wishes of a client for their designs.
Initially conceived as lucrative charity fundraisers, showhouses have also become a way for manufacturers to showcase their products and introduce them to the public, but this happens at some expense - there are manufacturing, shipping, and delivery costs and logistics as well as the very real possibility of loss or damage occurring.
Showhouse rooms are an expensive proposition for participating designers and manufacturers alike. While furnishings and accessories can be borrowed or loaned by showrooms and shops, and many vendors offer free or discounted products to designers, much of the cost for the custom work and skilled trade labor that brings the design to life comes out of the designers pocket. It is not uncommon for a designer to spend tens of thousands of dollars to finish a showhouse space well.
Even in the best of times, there are downsides to touring a showhouse for visitors - surrounded by hordes of other design afficionados it is impossible to linger and absorb all of the incredible details in each space. And it is definitely frowned upon to go past the ribbons and ropes…which makes closely inspecting the details difficult if not impossible.
In an era of Covid, it is most definitely NOT the best of times. Showhouses open to the public have, by necessity, many restrictions, and some have pivoted to offer just a handful of VIP scheduled tours and offered video tour tickets to the public instead of live tours.
Enter the New Breed of Showhouse: Seasonal Living Magazine's Luxury Virtual Designer Showhouse, the worlds VERY FIRST of its kind…a tourable and shoppable luxury designer showhouse, built entirely in the virtual world.
This brilliant idea was conceived and designed from the imagination of Gary Pettitt, CEO of Seasonal Living and Publisher of the beautiful quarterly Seasonal Living lifestyle magazine. The 20,000 square foot house is located atop a 20 acre estate overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, CA. While not built physically, the house has been fully rendered for an existing site by the incredibly talented team at eDesign Tribe.
Using state of the art technology to allow for a lifelike 3D walk around experience using a computer mouse, visitors will be able to zoom in on any detail that piques their interest. And it includes shoppable products, augmented reality highlights, and virtual reality incorporated into each room, so visitors can try out some of the featured products in their own homes. You certainly can’t do THAT in a traditional showhouse!
Gary Pettitt, publisher of Seasonal Living Magazine and owner of the 5x Arts Award winning modern indoor/outdoor furniture, lighting and decorative accessories brand, Seasonal Living, explains,
"When the pandemic hit, I realized that not only my business, but all other manufacturing businesses within the furniture and kitchen and bath industries were going to be seeking fresh, innovative and safe new ways to reach our customers.
Further, I wanted to find new and innovative ways that we could bring product manufacturers and world-class designer talent together to create enhanced ways for both sides of the industry to work closely together.
It's been a genuine pleasure to bring this innovative concept to fruition, along with the help of Leslie Carothers, CEO of Savour Partnership, and Jenna Gaidusek, CEO of the eDesignTribe, the other two principals in the project. We hope people around the world will enjoy touring it in the pages of Seasonal Living Magazine for years to come."
The showhouse will bring together a team of sponsors with a team of some of the best design talent in the country to complete the amazing rooms.
The showhouse sponsors
The inaugaral sponsors for Seasonal Living Magazine's Luxury Virtual Designer Showhouse are are excited about the opportunities and possibilities such a project presents. Their products will be showcased by incredibly talented designers and introduced to millions of consumers in this format.
And the featured showhouse designers
These 11 world class talents were selected to design spaces in the showhouse which will include rooms that are multifunctional and serve the way families want to live now. One example? The kitchen contains a 3 story live food solarium that will showcase how growing your own food indoors is possible. The virtual designer showhouse contains hundreds of inspiring and beautiful new ideas focused around wellness and sustainability.
Check out the designers websites and social media for hints about the spaces they are designing. While the full design plans have been submitted to the tech teams to be built, you’ll have to wait for the big reveal on December 3rd to experience the completed rooms.
Because this is a virtual showhouse, these designers have NO budget constraints (now THAT sounds like heaven!) allowing them to use their creative genius to the fullest.
THIS SOUNDS AWESOME! How do I see it?
Seasonal Living Magazine's Luxury Virtual Designer Showhouse will debut on Dec. 3rd, 2020 at 6 pm ET, during a professionally produced live VIP Special Event. Anyone who would like to see the Showhouse can register to attend the VIP Launch Event HERE. You DO NOT want to miss this first ever experience and registration is FREE!
You can also find Seasonal Living Magazine's Luxury Virtual Designer Showhouse in the Special Edition issue of Seasonal Living Magazine* available on Seasonal Living’s website on Dec. 4th, 2020, HERE
*Seasonal Living Magazine is a luxury lifestyle shoppable digital magazine published 4 times a year. Its mission is to encourage people around the globe to live more in harmony with the 4 seasons of Fall. Winter. Spring. Summer. through inspiring images, articles and videos about all things seasonal with respect to Food + Recipes. Design. Wellness. Entertaining. Travel.
Seasonal Living Magazine is produced, designed and written by Leslie Carothers, CEO of Savour Partnership and her company’s Creative Director, Sam Henderson, for Seasonal Living.
You can subscribe to Seasonal Living Magazine HERE. And you can access the inspiration in all 9 past issues HERE