The Sentinel from Carlisle, Pennsylvania • 59

TTl fPV fl 1 fTTfl rPs Laugh along jtyjC with Dilbert jj and his o) 0 friends see F4-5 jjp EE i i i The grand marble staircase with bronze balustrade was designed by Laboratorio Associati of Milan, Italy, for the Versace store. (AP) What was once the grand foyer of the George W. Vanderbilt townhouse on Fifth Avenue is now the main floor of Gianni Versace's flagship store in New York. (AP) FmsMmm (8w M) Designer's flagship store former Vanderbilt home By Barbara Mayer For AP Special Features By the time Versace arrived in New York in search of a worthy address for a flagship store, the remaining townhouse, a city landmark, was empty. While the upper portion of the facade had retained its magnificent pilasters and Corinthian capitals, the ground level and the interior had been altered as commercial space.

ianni Versace, who commands top dollar for his Italian fashions and home furnishings, has spent a Versace leased the building and began a original light well of the Vanderbilt residence. Each level has custom-made terrazzo paving, and the home furnishings department on the fifth floor has inlaid wood. Throughout the store, recessed wall vit-rines display accessories against hand-trowelled plaster walls ornamented with classical pilasters. While the Vanderbilts lacked no ties-in their mansionsvthe reconstructed townhouse has something the original didn't: a sixth floor. From the original roof line rises a Palladian-style temple on a mosaic pavement.

It offers a breath of fresh air and a birds-eye view of Fifth Avenue near Rockefeller Center. The addition's interior, styled like a pavilion, is to be a haven for the rich and famous. Along with a kitchen and reception area are private dressing rooms for Versace's best clients Madonna, Prince and Elton John among them. of worms in wood. They finished the work by hand.

"This was the most expensive way of working marble, involving extensive hand-carving to make the pattern," says Enrico Como, co-project architect. "So, of course, it was appropriate for the Vander-bilts." Versace's people declined to discuss costs, but Xenophon Galinas, president of Olympic Tower the landlord, said that most large retail corporations spare no expense on their flagship stores. In that context, he said, "The Versace installation is one of the most expensive found in the market today." What Versace got for the money is a luxurious commercial space in what was once a magnificent residence. The key interior feature is a marble staircase with bronze balustrade that winds its way through each level. The stairwell is lit by a skylight, evoking the Using what was left of the facade, period photographs and architectural drawings as reference, Rocco Magnoli and Lorenzo Carmellini of Laboratorio Associati of Milan re-created the exterior.

They also re-created the original interior plan of three large rooms, or bays, per floor. Restoration is an inexact process in which luck often plays a part. In this case, the architects were lucky to find a source in Cararra, Italy, for the Vermont marble that once faced the lower part of the building. It isn't unusual for firms in Cararra, world center of marble fabrication, to have stock from around the world. And it was cheaper to cut what was already there than for the architects to have more shipped from the Danby, quarry.

Using a laser, Italian artisans re-created the unusual pattern of cuts, known as ver-miculation, that imitate the meanderings lot of lire transforming a derelict Vanderbilt mansion into a New York emporium. five-story townhouse, one of two built in.a Bench neodicilsJileJorl. George Vanderbilt, was completed in 1905. George, grandson of Cornelius, also conceived and built the Biltmore, the opulent retreat in Asheville, N.C. Vanderbilt hoped the marble-faced twins would stem the march of commerce up Fifth Avenue.

But by 1924, one had been turned into an art gallery. In 1950, the other was razed to make room for a dry goods store catering to the carriage trade. In the 1970s, a glass and steel skyscraper, Olympic Tower, replaced the retailer. restoration 10 approximaie iu uuguuu grandeur, at a cost that would exceed the $9 million estimate. Now complete, it joins restored architectural landmarks in Italy, Switzerland and Paris that also are important shops in his fashion, home furnishings and retailing empire.

Versace, who also prefers historic buildings as homes, appreciated the historical associations of the townhouse, designed by the sons of eminent architect Richard Morris Hunt for one of America's richest and most pretentious families. I 1 Perry Arts Council readies annual festival By Chad Halcom Sentinel Reporter 1 T-H i i II It It i if i li Low-cost flu shots at pharmacy The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy will offer low-cost flu shots at the store on 328 N. Hanover Carlisle, on Oct. 15 and 22 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Shots will cost from $5 to $10. A donation will be made to the American Lung Association from the proceeds. For more information, call 258-5300. Free concert at Carlisle Barracks Coro Stelutis, a world-renowned acapella group performing traditional Italian folk music, will perform in Bliss Hall at Carlisle Barracks on Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.

The performance is free and open to the public. For more information, call 245-3262. Train harvest trip in Gettysburg The Gettysburg Railroad will sponsor a fall harvest dinner train trip on Saturday, leaving the Gettysburg station at 2 p.m. The trip will include a stopover at the Aspers Fire Company for an old-fashioned chicken barbecue dinner. Cost is $17 for adults and $9 for children, plus the cost of dinner.

Call 334-6932 to make reservations. Chicken barbecue in Wormleysburg Wormleysburg Fire Department will hold a chicken barbecue dinner on Saturday starting at 1 1 a.m. Dinners will be offered for take-out at the Mobil station on 932 N. Front St. Price is $5.

Little Buffalo will host some big acts in entertainment this weekend, as the Perry County Council of the Arts gears up for its pinnacle event of the year. Highlighting the schedule of acts the Moore Pavilion Stage at Little Buffalo State Park near Newport Saturday will be an acoustic performance by singer Rosanne Cash and a blues revue by nationally renowned artist John Hammond. And those who come to hear either of these performers may find something else happening there on the side, called the 13th annual Little Buffalo Festival of the Arts. "We're geared heavily toward music this year," says Elizabeth Yon, an events coordinator for the council, on scheduling the national artists. But, she adds, "There's a variety of things for everyone there." Of the 15 different performing presentations on tap for Saturday and Sunday, 10 are strictly musical and others incorporate songs into their acts.

Miss Yon says the music is a sure crowd-pleaser, but visitors can expect much more at the festival. For example, the festival will feature a marketplace of some 70 artisans selling arts and crafts, along with a children's art area and the annual community quilt-making event, an old mainstay of the festival. "It gets people involved, and shows them that they are creative," Miss Yon says of the participatory events. "And that draws their interest to the arts." Adults attending the festival can, for only $1 above their admission price, create crafts of their own in a special creative area at the festival. Tickets are $10 per day for adults and $3 per day for children ages 2-11, and are available from the Council of the Arts, by mail or at the gate.

Artists and performers will hail from around the country, including Ms. Cash from New York City and Hammond from Jersey City, N.J. Ms. Cash daughter of country music legend Johnny Cash has carved a niche File photo by Jeffrey LoweThe Sentinel A theatre troupe rehearses for a Shakespearean parody during last year's Little Buffalo Festival of the Arts. This year's event will feature performances by Rosanne Cash and John Hammond.

tions, they get scholarships to colleges in drama as well." Generally the group takes on one project a year, and this year's "Guys and Dolls" production will run in full Oct. 3-6 at the Carlisle Theater. Mrs. Ruediger believes the additional performance at Little Buffalo may serve to recruit more people, by raising their interest in drama. The festival typically draws more than 10,000 people to Perry each year.

Its hours are 1 1 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. the Pennsylvania Youth Music Theatre program. The 37 thespians who range in age from 5 to adulthood but generally are of high-school age will make their first appearance at the festival this year.

PYMT president Judy Ruediger says the group is ready to take the stage. "I don't know how to describe in words what they get out of it," Mrs. Ruediger says of the youngsters' performances. 'They get self-confidence, they usually get lead roles in their own high-school produc of her own in country and pop music since the late 1970's and is promoting her latest album, "10 Song Demo," from Capitol Records. And Hammond, a blues artists who has recorded songs with celebrities like Duane Allman and John Lee Hooker, has an album of his own out this year called "Found True Love." On the local front, children and adults from Cumberland, Perry, Dauphin and other counties will perform excerpts from the musical classic "Guys and Dolls," through I 1 wrrrifrnni'iim i iiiiinwTmwinttiriilM m-- ifiniHiiiniiiinr i inwiiilii i'liiwr-ifmiii 11'' mm-mmtwmmmmmmummamimmmmmm.