It sits nestled in the Arroyo, deep in Pasadena, the product of more than two dozen local designers, and the organizational work of many more volunteers, to ensure that Pasadena’s school children all have music in their lives.

The 2014 Pasadena Showcase House of Design will open its doors this Sunday, April 13, celebrating not only the House’s 50th year of stunning craftsmanship, but the 65th anniversary of the Showcase House of Design campaign as well.

“This is a milestone year for the organization, as the project has grown since 1948. Since then, we have donated in excess of 19 million dollars to the LA Philharmonic and other local non-profits, to support music and the arts in Pasadena,” said Donna Gotch, president of the Pasadena Showcase House of Design.

The magnificent 3.5 acre 1915 craftsman estate (the address and location of the home is always kept secret before the opening) will be used for the first time this year. (Some homes have been used more than once over the years.)

Along with the 60,000 square-foot main house with two staircases, there is a carriage house, a green house and lath house, as well as a pool and pool changing rooms. There is also a “spring house” on the property, a small building used for refrigeration, once common in rural areas before the advent of electric refrigeration, as the property itself was originally a working dairy farm.

Over the past 50 years, 25 design teams have converted the various rooms of the showcase estates into stunning examples of their design creativity. Just as remarkable as the work involved is the time involved—interior designers visited the home for one morning back in February, and were expected to draft a design idea that very afternoon, and submit it to the Showcase design committee for approval.

Once chosen, the designers, all working on the property at the same time, have only three months to complete their work. The house is then open to the public for 25 days.

Meanwhile, a core group of 60-70 volunteers is helping to organize everything from logistics to transportation to media, in time for the opening event. In fact, everything connected to the Showcase House event is done by volunteers, from the work itself, to the on-site restaurants and shops, which will be open on the property as well, selling gifts, collectibles and related memorabilia.

The book celebrates the five decades of great design and great service for the arts

This year, the committee is also publishing a hardcover book, “50 Years of Pasadena Showcase Design Houses: Supporting the Arts Through Design.”

The book was written by Noel Jeffreys, and edited by committee book chairman Fran Biles, along with 18 additional women, all former chairpersons, each of whom represent a decade of the Showcase House since the project’s inception.

The book features remembrances, anecdotes and histories, along with 500 before-and-after photos of every showcase house from the past 50 years.

“Ten years ago, we put all our photos and research into storage, and three years ago, we began going through it,” Biles told Pasadena Now.

Biles, along with photo editor Laura Wisner, combed through the decades of photos, and sent them along with the collected stories and manuscript to graphic designer Rita Sowins, a former Altadena resident now living in St. Louis.

Biles also sat down and listened to stories from the former chairpersons, each sharing their remembrances of the Showcase Houses.

“It was a great project, and a great time, just getting to hear the stories from 50 years ago from these former chairpersons,” Biles added. “Their excitement was really exciting to me. Now we have 3,000 books available to sell, and we’ve already sold 20% of them.”

Fifty years, more than 1,200 design teams, thousand of volunteers, countless hours of planning and hard work, and a book, will all be on display come Sunday at a secret house in Pasadena.

The 2014 Pasadena Showcase House of Design will be held April 13– May 11, 2014  Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday, 9 am – 5 pm, and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm. Showcase is closed on Mondays. www.pasadenashowcase.org/