THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 30, 1994 TAG: 9409290189
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
Delores Chase agreed last year to open her spectacular Croatan home to the public - its marble floors, spiral staircase, panoramic ocean views, even the master bedroom closet.
``At the time they asked, it sounded like a good idea,'' she said. After all, Chase belongs to the Driftwood Circle of The King's Daughters. She knows better than most the charitable works the organization does.
When the Virginia Beach City Union of The King's Daughters was looking for a place to hold this year's House for All Seasons fund-raiser, they thought of Chase's Italian contemporary home on the beach. She said yes.
Then had months to ponder.
``Do you know how when you do something and then you wonder why in the world you've done it?'' she asked.
Next Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. the fund-raiser will be held at Ascher and Delores Chase's home at 548 S. Atlantic Ave. At least 700 people - last year's total attendance - are expected to pay $3 each to troop through.
They'd better be wearing clean socks. ``I'm thinking of having them take their shoes off,'' Chase said, standing in her marble-floored foyer and trying to imagine the throng.
Each year, the union chooses a different home to decorate as House For All Seasons. It is one of the organization's biggest fund-raisers, second only to its annual fashion show.
``We have 200 members in 12 circles,'' said Jean Shaw, president of the group. ``This is our hardest working fund-raiser. There are so many handcrafts and decorations and some of them are pretty fantastic.''
The dozen circles of The King's Daughters are each assigned areas of the home to decorate in a seasonal or holiday theme. Work on the often elaborate decorations begins months in advance. Last year's open house raised $7,000. Donations from this year's show will go to the Lend-A-Hand/Betty Anne Smolka Fund at Virginia Beach General Hospital and the Seton House.
This year, because of limited parking in Croatan, trolleys will shuttle visitors from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from the South Vanderbilt Street public parking lot. Tickets to the home are available at the door. Refreshments are included in the tour. Baked goods and mums will be for sale. Decorations made by circle members will be for sale and a queen-sized comforter donated by Birdcloud Creations will be raffled.
Although her house will be fully decorated and then cleaned up by circle members, Chase made preparations of her own.
``How do you get ready for something like this,'' she mused, days before the open house. ``I don't know.''
She had her pale sand carpets cleaned. And she polished the brass foot rail around the living room bar and the brass stair rail that spirals up the circular foyer. Tickets for the open house are preprinted with the request that visitors wear flat shoes. That makes Chase happy.
``These floors scar so easily,'' she said, gesturing at some of the 20 tons of marble that Italian architect and designer Giorgio Vafiadis used in the 8,000-square-foot home. European styling is evident throughout. In the kitchen, imported Italian black lacquered cabinets glisten on the walls, black marble on the counter tops.
The Dolphin Circle will decorate the living room.
``We're doing a kind of ocean winter theme,'' said Cathie D. Holroyd, chairman of the circle's decorating committee. ``The colors are maroon and teal and we're going to have a Christmas tree with seashell and ocean theme ornaments and pillows and candles and a lot of topiaries and wreaths all with burgundy and metallic colors.''
Some of the seashells in this circle's arrangements came from Holroyd's grandmother's attic. They had been there for years, once gathered at Captiva Island off Florida's coast.
The large room has an ocean view on three sides. Visitors will be able to admire what the Chases can see on the beach from matching dark green leather sofas. They will be allowed peeps into the elevator that carries the owners up to the second and third floors.
The second floor powder room boasts a sink decorated with gold leaf and salmon and black marble. On the third floor, visitors can look into the master bedroom closet and also see the built-in television that hovers at a convenient angle above the bathroom's tub.
Meanwhile, in the next few days, dinner conversation at the Chase home will probably be held to a minimum.
Ascher Chase, part-owner of a Norfolk plastics manufacturing firm, hasn't been privy to many of the preparations at his house.
``I try not to talk too much about it to him,'' his wife said, looking out the window at the churning surf. ``You know how men are.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
Expecting a horde of visitors, Delores Chase had the pale sand
carpets cleaned and the brass foot rail around the bar polished in
the living room of her Italian contemporary home in Croatan. Some 20
tons of marble are used in the foyer and other parts of the
8,000-square-foot home.
WHEN & WHERE
The Virginia Beach City Union of The King's Daughters is
sponsoring the House For All Seasons, a home tour and fund-raiser at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ascher Chase on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. The home is in Croatan at 548 S. Atlantic Ave. Trolley service
will be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from the South Vanderbilt
Street public parking lot. Tickets will be available at the door for
$3. No high heels allowed.
by CNB