ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 17, 1996 TAG: 9605170031
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: TRACY WHITAKER AND JUDY HEILICH SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
Some of the finest homes in the New River Valley will be on display Sunday when the Women's Club of Radford holds its 1996 Home Tour. Proceeds from the tour benefit the Reading is Fundamental and Babies into Books literacy programs.
Tour stops include the Radford homes of Mark and Cindy Adair on Mountain View Lane, George and Juanita Harvey on Norwood Street, William and Barbara Prillaman on Harvey Street and Ian and Jill Spiers on Buckeye Lane. Also included are the Montgomery County home of Robert and Salle Ann Gill and Grace Episcopal Church at Harvey and Fourth streets in Radford. Here's a sneak preview:
Mark and Cindy Adair's dramatically appointed two-story traditional brick home has a decorator's touch, to be sure, since Cindy Adair is an interior designer. Jewel tones of burgundy and green are used in every room.
The dining room's centerpiece is a Queen Anne table and chairs. A corner cupboard displays family heirlooms and Homer Laughlin china made from clay mined in North Carolina. Spruce green walls and an eggshell-white swag and jabot fringed curtains give the room a fresh look.
The upstairs hall features a reading nook where Jacobean window treatments frame a chaise. Santa Fe art, collected on a trip out West, decorates the walls.
Radford University professors Robert and Salle Ann Gill's impeccably designed Montgomery County home reflects a surprising blend of two distinct personalities. Robert Gill has had a lifelong interest in all things French whereas Texas native Salle Ann Gill's interests lie in Latin and the classics.
In this exceptional Southern, French Louisiana home with neo-classical touches, the living room mantel matches columns that divide the living room from the dining room. Moldings contribute to the neo-classic elements.
A female ancestor's photograph taken before the Civil War rests on a small table. Above it hangs a miniature painting done by the young lady in about 1875.
The dining room features an antique china press, a Gill family piece with original blown glass in the doors. A collection of milk glass is beautifully displayed.In the kitchen, a stained glassed corner cabinet was made to match the wallpaper design.
Oil paintings collected on trips to Quebec appear throughout the house. In the family room, soapstone Eskimo art graces the the mantel. The fireplace was formed from a stone foundation of a cabin found on the property. The cabin was relocated and reassembled at Ferrum college.
Built-in custom-made cherry cabinets line the walls in the upstairs library. Books, oriental carpets and a desk once owned by Gill's grandfather finish the opulent room.
A sweeping curved staircase with a galleried balcony greets visitors as they enter the rounded foyer of the home of Ian and Jill Spiers. The light-filled rooms have a lively, contemporary feel. Bright airy rooms are filled with large windows that spill light into the house, creating an outdoors feeling. The living room bay window overlooks an English garden. The garden is a labor of love that the Spiers have enjoyed creating.
Danish-style beech furniture, purchased when the family lived in Denmark, fills the dining room. The family room and media room at the rear of the house open onto a brick terrace. On display are miniature Lilliput Lane cottages that remind Jill Spiers of her native England.
A feeling of home and family is pervasive in the 100-year-old farmhouse situated on the 170 acre horse farm of George and Juanita Harvey.
An heirloom Victorian sofa graces the entry foyer. A grandfather clock stands sentinel, purchased at an auction years ago by George Harvey. A reception area features two red Victorian sofas and chairs passed down by Alice Harvey, George Harvey's mother. A bisque doll is adorned in a dress made by Alice Harvey from her wedding gown. The doll inspired Juanita Harvey to collect Royal Doulton and Lladro dolls when she travels.
The large country kitchen is the heart of the house. A shelving niche holds a collection of tea pots. Recently remodeled, it features cabinets of pickled oak and Williamsburg blue counter tops.One of the houses two staircases descends to the kitchen. The Harvey's granddaughter loves to sleep in the room at the top of the stairs so she wakes close to the kitchen and her grandmother.
Five bedrooms display heirloom quilts. A cherry swinging cradle highlights a bedroom used for the smallest grandchildren.
Dr. William and Barbara Prillaman's home, a graceful Colonial of Georgian architecture is a perfect example of art and design fusing with a classical background to create a highly individual statement. The exterior, made of oven fired and comb-raked bricks, features operable wood shutters that block the summer sun. Twin chimneys, a main level porch with arches, a second-story porch with a balcony and Chippendale railing add to the elegance of the home's exterior. English boxwoods line the Vermont green slate walk.
The interior features open arches, hardwood floors, fluted arched corner cupboards and a beautiful collection of Persian rugs, viewed by the Prillamans as works of art.
A new addition was built in 1993. It features a breakfast area and great room with 11-foot ceilings and heavy crown moldings. Light streams into the the room through atrium doors and palladium windows.In the living room are a Victorian sofa, a grandfather clock from Germany, and a Chinese screen from Taiwan. Antique walnut chairs with needlepoint seats done by Barbara Prillaman finish the room.
The dining room has two built-in corner cupboards, topped by a decorative shell. Doors are filled with hand cut, mouth blown lead crystal from Germany.
The master bedroom contains a reproduction bed with bed hangings patterned after Williamsburg homes.
The Grace Episcopal Church's exquisite stained-glass windows designed by Franz Mayer and Sons of Munich, Germany at make this stop a must-see. The 18 stained-glass panels that encircle the sanctuary and the rose window over the entry portray the life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Ascension.
A Zimmer pipe organ dates from 1970. Needlepoint kneeling cushions made by Lib Faulkner add color to the sanctuary.
The Parish Hall has three large oriental rugs that are often bathed in a heavenly glow from the amber glass arched windows.
The Thomas Garden surrounds the breezeway and winds between the Parish House and the Parish Center on each side of a walkway to the Grace Garden. The garden is filled with boxwood, rhododendron and beautiful flowering perennials.
The Rev. Gene R. Anderson, part-time priest-In-charge is the current minister.
Flowers will be provided by Northside Florist, Radford City Florist and The Village Flower Shop.
1996 Home Tour: 2-6 p.m. Sunday, featuring five homes and historic Grace Episcopal Church. Tickets at Radford Chamber of Commerce, Michelle & Co., Sturgill's, Encore, Garretts and Radford City Florist. $10 for tour or $3 for a single home. Call Andrea Neighbors at 639-9369 for information.
LENGTH: Long : 125 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: The homes tour will include the residence of Robert andby CNBSalle Ann Gill on Country Meadows Drive in Montgomery County. color.