Summerlin families prepare for debut on `Trading Spaces'

The Summerlin master-planned community will be in the spotlight next weekend when The Learning Channel airs a recently taped episode of "Trading Spaces" featuring residents Kenny and Samantha Horowitz, and Kirk and Brigette Velasquez.

The program will be televised at 9 p.m. on Saturday and again at noon next Sunday.

In each episode, the show equips two neighbors with a professional designer, a carpenter, and $1,000, and gives them 48 hours to redecorate a room in their neighbor's house. Participants have no say in how the room will look and risk living next to a sometimes not-so-happy neighbor.

The couples have become celebrities among their neighbors.

"It was fun to be the center of attention," Samantha Horowitz said.

The Horowitzes, along with designer Vern Yip, gave the Velasquezes' family room a traditional look with crown molding, yellow and tan striped walls and blue upholstery.

"We're thrilled beyond belief. We're not changing a thing," Brigette Velasquez said.

The Velasquezes worked with designer Genevieve Gorder, who used her self-described quirky style to redecorate the Horowitzes' family room in shades of purple.

"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.

Summerlin, developed by The Howard Hughes Corp., has ranked as the nation's best-selling master-planned community for 10 of the past 11 years, according to independent surveys.

Situated along the western rim of the Las Vegas Valley, it is being developed in villages and is home to eight golf courses, 105 parks, more than 100 miles of trails, 18 schools, houses of worship, shopping centers, medical facilities, cultural facilities, business parks and nearly 165 model homes.

Single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums are priced from the mid-$100,000s to more than $700,000. Custom-home sites in The Ridges are priced from the $500,000s to more than $1 million, and predesigned custom homes are priced from $2.1 million.

Apartments offer monthly rents starting from the high $700s.

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

The center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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