San Francisco has seen much history pass through its streets since the first settlers established themselves in 1774. The city breathed, lived, and survived the earthquake and fire that ravished the city in 1906, the rapid commercial growth largely due to the Gold Rush in 1848, the political activism of Summer of Love, and the Gay Rights Movement of the 1960s.

As history passes by and exists through textbooks, there is one part of San Francisco that has survived everything the city went through, and is as famous as the city itself--the nineteenth century Victorian-style homes. While many of the original architectural buildings of this country have either been demolished or destroyed, the Victorian homes stands as strong today as they did back when they were first built.

With attempts to preserve the historical buildings, and at the same time provide the bay area students with opportunities of higher education, San Francisco University High School created the San Francisco Decorator Showcase, highlighting interior designs in fully refurbished Victorian houses since 1977.

"A group of parents had the idea to take one of the old houses that needed some work done, fix it up, and open it up to the public and charge admission," Delanie Borden, director of the showcase said. "Parents [at the school] were looking for ways to raise funds for the financial aid program--it turned out to be a really good fundraiser. It does support, to a large extent, our financial aid program."

Wearing a black vest under a long shirt, Borden walks from room to room. Turning off the lights in each room, she takes one swift look at the changes that the construction workers have made, making the house one step closer to completion. She mentions how the showcase is an important commitment they have made over the past thirty-two years.

"San Francisco University High School has students all over the Bay Area, from the East Bay to Marin County," Borden says. "And 25 percent of the students need financial aid. They have a really diverse student body, both culturally and financially."

According to Borden, not only does the showcase benefit students, it also promotes and displays some of the best artistic visions of Bay Area interior designers, which has always been a very strong design community.

Borden says, "What people come to see is a great big beautiful old house, looking for a designer, come for [design] ideas, or they want to know do-it-yourself ideas for their own home, or want to see a really gorgeous put-together house, and a tour of interior design."

"San Francisco designers have historically been leading in their field. The whole California design movement really started in San Francisco," Borden says. "Michael Taylor and John Dickinson, people who really became iconic in the design world today, they all participated in the San Francisco Decorator Showcase."

Nicole Hollis is in charge of designing the entry hall and the staircase this year. "I think it really helps people to see a room designed out with no clients involved, how the interior designers have the freedom to use their imagination and creativity without the restraints of clients--truly a designer room that's geared toward their vision," she says.

Orlando Diaz-Azcuy, an interior designer involved in the showcase for about twelve to fifteen years, describes his vision for the dining room he and his associates envisioned as being luxurious and glamorous without having to spend $100,000 on antique tables, chairs, or a fantastic Louis XVI chandelier.

Sitting in an all-white themed room wearing a white jacket, Azcuy smiles saying, "My room, my look--it's going to be very unexpected--which is what I like to do." Explaining how he sees the house, Azcuy describes that a house of this magnitude (which is located between Divisadero and Broderick in Pacific Heights and designed by architect Nathaniel Blaisdell) and for the people who lived there in the past and would live in the future, it is not just a dining room you would normally have breakfast in.

"It's a room for big dinners and big events, so I want it to look glamorous," Azcuy says. "I want it to look fabulous for an evening of fabulous food and fabulous entertainment where the women could dress up."

Azcuy believes that the showcase is not for the benefit of the designer but for San Francisco University High School students who need the money to help pay for the cost of tuition.

"These are very tough times," Azcuy says. "Not every designer is willing to put in the time and effort into a showcase, in an economic situation this bad. However, I feel it is exactly the precise time we should come out and help causes like this."

For more information, please visit the website, (www.decoratorshowcase.org).