Simon Perkins Jr. probably never envisioned an ocelot-print rug in his library or mirrored cornices in one of his bedrooms. But for a short time, his little corner of history has gone high-style.

The estate built by Perkins, son of Akron's co-founder, has been taken over temporarily by the Junior League of Akron for its Designer ShowHouse 2006. Interior designers and decorators have put a fashionable face on rooms in the Perkins Stone Mansion, the John Brown House and the wash house, and the grounds have been perked up as well.

The show house opens to the public today at 550 Copley Road, Akron. Tours will continue from Wednesdays through Sundays until June 25.

It's an often-surprising transformation of a familiar landmark, now owned by the Summit County Historical Society. While some of the decorators kept close to their rooms' historical roots, others gave history a tweak.

Take, for example, the wash house, decorated by Hudson designer Pamela Bayer and Erin Lowe of Akron's Reeder Architects. The small clapboard building, originally a laundry and more recently a gift shop and storage area, is now set up as a guest house in which contemporary design is juxtaposed against a patina of age.

Bayer, who decorated the main living area of the building, kept details like the original wainscot and window trim, added crown molding and then set off that traditional backdrop with furniture and accessories that have Asian and midcentury modern influences. A pair of '50s-style, tufted-back chairs are pulled up to the well-used fireplace, and traditional toile curtains pair with relaxed wood shades.

"I really like the idea of the old with the new,'' said Bayer, who even left the ceiling unrepaired to play up what she called "the beauty of the cracks."

Likewise, the wash room's bathroom -- the room designer Lowe jokingly called "the tetanus bathroom" before its transformation -- combines traditional and modern looks.

Lowe combined such old-fashioned features as a stained-glass window, beaded-board wainscot and pedestal sink with a striking red wallcovering and photos by her husband, Eric Lowe. "So it's colorful and fun and modern, but still keeping it really traditional," she said.

Glittery bedroom

An even more dramatic transformation is a second-floor bedroom in the Perkins Mansion decorated by interior designers Joan Reusser and Karen Fehlman, who turned a grouping of antique furniture into a glittery retreat with the Art Deco flair of '40s Hollywood.

A mink throw is tossed on the bed. Zebra-striped fabric covers an ottoman and a bolster pillow. Window cornices, dresser surfaces and wall-mounted vases glitter with mirrored surfaces, all set off by a shimmery wall treatment and white shag rug.

Another striking change is the library, just off the mansion's entry hall. Fairlawn designer Joel R. Wolfgang turned the room from a stiffly formal space into an enveloping retreat with chocolate walls, lush fringed draperies and an intimate furniture arrangement anchored by that ocelot rug.

Wolfgang said he wanted the room to look as though its contents had been collected over time, so he incorporated such diverse accents as sculptures, a hookah pipe and an autographed photo of John F. Kennedy. A globe on a stand hides a bar, and an old leather chair beckons the occupant to relax.

"I made it more of an intimate space," he said. "It's a very comfortable evening room."

Faithful to origin

Other designers, however, remained more faithful to their rooms' origins. Jackson Township's Robin Brechbuhler was so enamored of the historical furniture and accessories in the Perkins mansion dining room that she designed her room to highlight them, adding gold swags in the windows and decorating the walls with dabs of gold leaf on a blue background to pick up the gold in the china. In the parlor, Artistic Creations & Design Studio in Bath Township used historical stencils to create elaborate designs on the walls and ceiling that will remain after the show house closes.

Cuyahoga Falls designer Jim Pesce, working with Mari Reisman and Becky Gustavel of Western Reserve Decorator Fabrics in Tallmadge, took a fanciful journey back in time in remaking the bedroom once occupied by Perkins and his wife, the former Grace Ingersoll Tod.

In creating a bed-and-breakfast-style retreat, the three imagined how the couple might have lived. The designers incorporated elegant fabrics such as crewel, toile and taffeta that they figured the couple would have been able to afford, included family portraits and mementos, and even hung a wedding dress borrowed from Pesce's neighbor that came from the Perkinses' era. The original remains stored to safeguard it from potential damage.

In the John Brown House, what was once gallery space is now four rooms: a casual living-and-dining space that looks like something from a seaside retreat, created by Astin/Muckensturm Interiors in Medina; a game room that mixes contemporary accents with 18th-century reproduction furniture from D.R. Dimes, designed by Katherine Harmon of Bella Abode in Hudson; a contemporary sitting room that Green designer John Antro envisioned as the waiting room of a professional's office, with leather chairs arranged around a glass-top table and walls painted in dark brown and acid green; and a contemporary TV room and gathering space designed by Garth Andrew's Associates in Bath Township.

In all, 22 spaces in the three buildings were decorated for the show house. Most will have to be returned to their original state or other historically appropriate forms when the event ends.

You can't revise history, after all. Not even for great design.