Portfolio: Margate show house

This year's Ruth Newman Shapiro Cancer & Heart Fund Show House at the Shore explodes with color from behind a Georgian brick façade in Margate. Owners Mitch Tannehill and Mark Arbeit have collaborated with area designers to layer Far Eastern influences onto the traditional English themes at Seabright on Rumson.

Tannehill describes general contractor Debbie Buchalski's influence on the house as that of a "Broadway producer with a good script." Her efforts blend seamlessly with the owners' vision, resulting in functional yet aesthetically appealing living space. A spare bedroom by Candace Adler Design in Linwood embodies this: A carpeted table/ottoman stands at the foot of an unexpectedly elegant convertible couch.

Colmar Kitchen & Bath in Margate built the kitchen under Tannehill's supervision. A mural of cobalt blue and white stands as a backdrop for the contemporary stove. Modern appliances are tempered by a farm-inspired sink and faucet imported from England. The adjacent dining room, designed by Surfside Casual Furniture in Somers Point, features wallpaper that outshines the furniture, a delicate painted silk in earth tones.

Asian details appear throughout the house, in the 1920s parchment portraits of an imperial family in a spare bedroom and accents in the master bedroom. Yet flat-screen plasma TVs and high-tech speakers, installed by Shore Sound & Cinema in Pleasantville, are in every room.

- Caroline Berson