The Otis Townsend House is located at 115 Reading Ave., just one block from the Atlantic Ocean.

The Otis Townsend residence stands Victorian opulence on its head as Cape May’s most outstanding example of the Craftsman style, which incorporates clean lines and natural materials.
This year’s Designer Show House showcases its true natural beauty with help from some of the region’s top designers and suppliers.

The 2008 Cape May Designer Show House, presented by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts (MAC) and sponsored by South Jersey House & Home magazine, will be open from June 27 through Oct. 19.
This charming 1915 home is located at 115 Reading Ave., just one block from the Atlantic Ocean.

Clarence LeMunyon, a noted area contractor from 1910 to 1925, was the major builder and foreman during the construction period in 1914. It was originally built for Ocean City carpenter, lumberyard owner, and developer Otis Townsend who sold the property almost immediately.

David and Myra Kurkowski currently own the Otis Townsend residence and have contracted with local businessman Bill Saponaro, who owned the three previous designer show houses, and builder Matthew Morgan to undertake a restoration of the exterior and a series of upgrades to the interior.

This spacious house still relies mainly on its structural details for ornamentation, but now offers a family room and a wet bar on the ground floor, a front porch with views of the ocean, a rear porch with backyard gardens and potting shed, a formal parlor and dining room, a remodeled kitchen complete with Brazilian wood, a powder room in the kitchen, a master bedroom and bath on the second floor, three guest bedrooms, a nursery, a full bath on the third floor, as well as a third floor study and media pub chamber.

The large living room offers a gas fireplace and built-in bookcases with leaded glass doors typical of Craftsman design of the early 1900s.
The renovations restored it to its original glory, while adding modern amenities. The asbestos exterior was removed and the original wood shingles have been replaced.
The original wooden floors were given a shiny coat of shellac. The house offers original Craftsman-style wood paneling and cabinetry, as well as original gasolier light fixtures (which are now electrified) in the bedrooms.

The region’s top designers and suppliers incorporated all the latest design elements from paint colors to fabrics, while keeping to the Craftsman-style design philosophy.
The house will be open Friday, June 27 through Sunday, Oct. 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Friday. Tours are self-guided and each visitor will receive a full-color program book with information about the designers, products and vendors.

Admission is $20 for adults and $15 for children (ages three-12). Combinations of dinner, lunch, breakfast or tea with the Show House Tour will be available.
Proceeds benefit the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts (MAC), a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Cape May’s heritage.
For information, call 609-884-5404, 800-275-4278, or visit capemaymac.org.