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Community Corner

Q & A With Luxury Show House Coordinator

"Staging a house is a little like having a wedding," said Jill Jerrehian, Peninsula Volunteer.

She's known as the "House Mother."  Her ID says she's Jill Jerrehian, who you may know from her work with the Peninsula Volunteers, Inc.’s Decorator Show House in Woodside.

Jerrehian is on their PV's Board of Directors, as well as the American Cancer Society's Board.  

The Show House starts this Friday. The following is a transcript of a conversation we had with her. 

Patch: Tell me about yourself. How long have you been involved in Peninsula Volunteers and how did you get involved?

Jerrehian: I’ve been with the group for 20 years and served as president twice. When I moved to Los Altos Hills, I had a neighbor who was involved in the group. I also had elderly parents. I did charity work in high school; we did rummage sales for local church. I then went to Williams & Mary College, married and left Virginia, taking up community service. I was a stay-at-home mom and now have four grandchildren, two sets of twins that live in Manhattan, so I do a lot of traveling.

Find out what's happening in Redwood City-Woodsidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

P: What are the most exciting projects you’ve worked on? What’s your experience been like with the Designers Show House?

J: Over 10 years ago, I had experience with ACS with show houses. I was president when Peninsula Volunteers started the Rosener [Adult Day Care] in 1980. I direct traffic [at the Woodside show house], there 20 designers in 23 rooms, with contractors, painters and artists. I am in charge of coordinating in to help them get done what they need to get done in very short period of time. Staging a house is a little like having a wedding.

Find out what's happening in Redwood City-Woodsidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

P: What’s your favorite part of running the show houses?

J: Meeting fantastic people. They [the designers] hope that people will come and see what they’ve done and remember them. But they’re very altruistic because this is their time and donated materials. There isn’t a soul out there that can’t relate to our organization’s goals. For those who are part of Meals on Wheels, this may be their only human contact or meal they have for that day; we serve their bodies, minds and hopefully their souls.

P: What has inspired you to dedicate so much of your time to giving back to the community?

J: I was raised in family that this is their way of life. It was part of my upbringing and it’s ingrained in me as breathing. I can’t imagine life without giving back to the community; it’s such a joy. 

Local Designer Connections

Woodside’s Sindhu Peruri is a designer at Miller Design Co. and is participating in decorating along with her partner Bob Miller. They are two of the 20 designers selected from 110 applicants.

“I wanted to participate in the show house along with my partner Bob Miller because we haven’t done one in a long time and thought it was a wonderful opportunity and for a good cause,” she said. “On the design front, it keeps us current and competitive to see what our peers are doing. It’s fun and challenging at the same time to come up with new and good design ideas for a space. I feel we raised the value of the house by incorporating modern materials and it’s refreshing to see an old house being updated.”

This 11,000 square foot home has 20 decorated designer rooms and is located on a 21-acre estate.


The Designer Show House runs from May 4 through 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. General Admission for daily self-guided tours is $35, but is closed on Mondays. Thursday Evening is Meet the Designers night.  Tickets are $50. (includes refreshments) The event goes from 6 to 8 p.m. 

 


 

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