Designer Show House Event Canceled Following Devastating Fire at Blithewald

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RUMSON – The show will not go on.
Due to extensive fire damage at Blithewald, the location of the fifth bi-annual Stately Homes By the Sea Designer Show House event has been cancelled, the VNA told designers last night in an email.
“Unfortunately, the damage sustained by Blithewald is so severe that the Stately Homes by-the-Sea Designer Show House event cannot proceed as planned,” said Steven Landers, President and CEO of VNA Health Group. “Almost every part of the home was damaged directly by either fire or the water used to extinguish it, as was most of its contents.  No one is allowed into the home right now for safety reasons, and it will take several days to assess both the cause of the fire and the full extent of the damages to it.”
The Great Gatsby Preview Gala was scheduled for Saturday night. The show house was to be open for ticket-paying visitors April 28-May 31.
At 12:55 p.m. Monday, more than 65 firefighters from eight neighboring times were called to the four-alarm fire at 76 Buena Vista Avenue in Rumson, which was brought under control around 4 p.m. Rumson Fire Chief Kevin McCarthy said the third floor was completely burned out, leaving the professionally appointed areas of the 10,000 square foot house exposed to water and smoke damage, and even rainfall later in the night. (See story.)
“There was certain areas we were trying to keep out of, due to compromised structural integrity,” said Chief McCarthy. “We had some concerns the chimneys were compromised,” he said.
Investigation by Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, Monmouth County Fire Marshal, and Rumson Police Department is active and ongoing
Many of the local volunteers who have been working on producing the show and ad journal this since January, the VNA’s largest fundraiser, spent a sleepless night last night, thinking about the loss. In 2013, the showhouse attracted 10,000 ticket buyers, and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. T
More than 40 designers and their teams have been actively working at the site since winter, transforming 30 spaces in the 10,000 square foot mansion, and landscaping the grounds located on four acres. Some were at the house today, trying to salvage their valuables under the supervision of authorities.
Stately Homes By-the-Sea debuted in 2007 at Scothigh Farms in Rumson. Since then, the showhouse has been held at Sheep’s Run in Rumson, at the historic Holly Hill in Locust in 2011, and Hartshorne Mansion in Little Silver in 2013.
 – By Christina Johnson