Summerlin residents try `trading spaces'

For Summerlin residents Ken and Samantha Horowitz and their neighbors Kirk and Brigette Velazquez, trading spaces took on a whole new meaning as the couples participated last weekend in the taping of a segment for The Learning Channel's "Trading Spaces."

The show puts two sets of neighbors in each other's homes to redecorate one room of their neighbor's house. With the help of a professional designer and carpenter, each team has 48 hours and $1,000 to complete the transformation. At its conclusion, the rooms are revealed to sometimes delighted and sometimes horrified neighbors, who agree beforehand to allow significant changes to their interior décor.

The couples, who originally hail from the East, with the exception of Brigette Velazquez, live in The Arbors village. The Horowitzes have been Summerlin residents for four years, while the Velazquez family has been in the community for just over a year. Ken Horowitz and Kirk Velazquez work at the same restaurant, and their wives have become good friends, as well.

"Several months ago, our wives were watching `Trading Spaces' while sharing a bottle of wine on a Saturday night when Kirk and I were at work," Horowitz said. "Following the show, they applied ... to participate. Much to our surprise, we got the call from the TLC producers who found our Las Vegas story interesting and fun. The rest is history."

The Horowitzes worked with designer Vern Yip to redecorate the Velazquezes' family room with a traditional clean look that featured crown molding, yellow and tan striped walls, and blue upholstery.

"We're thrilled beyond belief," Brigette Velazquez said.

The Velazquezes worked with designer Genevieve Gorder, who chose shades of purple for the Horowitz family room.

"While we'd do it again in a heartbeat for the experience, we're not exactly pleased with the end result. But that's what makes the show interesting and fun," Samantha Horowitz said. "It's been fun to be the center of attention. When the Trading Spaces caravan of trucks, trailers and vehicles pulled into our neighborhood, I knew we were in for quite a ride."

The segment is scheduled to air on March 29 at 9 p.m. and again on March 30 at noon.

Developed by The Howard Hughes Corp. in villages along the western rim of the valley, Summerlin has been ranked as the nation's best-selling master-planned community nine of the past 10 years. It is home to eight golf courses, more than 100 neighborhood and village parks, more than 105 completed miles of trails, 18 schools, houses of worship, shopping centers, medical facilities, cultural facilities, business parks, and 165 model homes.

Single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums are priced from the mid-$100,000s to more than $700,000. Custom-home sites measuring from one-half acre to three-quarters of an acre are priced from the $400,000s to more than $1 million, and predesigned custom homes are priced from $500,000 to more than $1 million. Apartments offer monthly rents starting from the high $700s.

To visit the community's home finding center, travel west on Sahara Avenue past Hualapai Way to Town Center Drive and turn north. Or, take Interstate 215 to Sahara Avenue and head east to Town Center.

Office hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

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