Build It....For A Cure

This year’s V Foundation Charity home in Amberly showcases more than anything the kindness and talent of local industry professionals.

If you’re a native North Carolinian, you likely know about Jimmy V. If not, you might be wondering about this legend. Who was he and what did he mean to Raleigh?

James Thomas Anthony Valvano, or “Jimmy V”, coached the North Carolina State University’s Wolfpack to win the NCAA Basketball Tournament in 1983. Photos and film footage show his sheer delight and exuberance at the win as he raced down the sidelines looking for someone to hug.

During his career, Jimmy V served as athletic director for North Carolina State University and also as a commentator for ESPN and ABC. But what captured the hearts of Americans every-where—and especially here—was Valvano’s belief in living life to the fullest.
 
Tragically, Valvano died in 1993 at age 47 after a year-long battle with cancer. Just before his death, Valvano spoke at the inaugural ESPY awards and announced the formation of the V Foundation, dedicated to raising money to find a cure for cancer. Valvano’s speech concluded with this: “Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever.”

The V Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to saving lives by helping to find a cure for cancer. The Foundation seeks to make a difference by generating broad-based support for cancer research and by creating an urgent awareness among all Americans of the importance of the war against cancer. The Foundation performs these dual roles through advocacy, education, fundraising, and philanthropy.

To date, the V Foundation has raised more than $60 million dollars for cancer research. For the past three years, one of the foundation’s most unique fundraisers has been the V Foundation Charity Home. 

This year’s charity home, located in the Peninsula of Amberly in Cary, was open to the public during the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County’s 42nd annual Parade of Homes. Interior designer Michele Freeman, of MacLean Interiors, donated her services to the home. Freeman has consulted on all three foundation charity homes and, along with 1st American Builders, strives each year to implement the latest amenities and finishes into an inviting home.

A Tour For a Cure

The Amberly subdivision in Cary is picturesque with rolling hills and generous treelines. Homes are fashioned in Shaker-style with some elements of the Arts and Crafts era as well.
 
The 4,000-square-foot Jimmy V home welcomes guests with an expansive foyer. On either side is a generous office and dining room. The dining room boasts coffered ceilings. Within each ceiling square, a faux paint treatment called copper flashing adds richness and depth to the room.

And, in fact, the entire house is soothing with deep paint tones such as olive greens and taupes in the bedrooms and baths, while lighter creams, blues and yellows provide contrast. Freeman chose the Sherwin-Williams shade ‘red cent’ for the downstairs. The color, somewhere between coral and orange, works perfectly, marrying the Shaker elements outdoors with an interior that is both upscale and inviting.  

“The whole house is very comfortable and casual,” says Freeman. “I did the design work as they were building the home and made all the selections for cabinetry and paint. But as far as getting the house furnished, that all took place in the week before (we opened it to the public).”

Downstairs the floors are four-inch-wide distressed cherry hardwoods, which contribute to the rustic elegance of the home. “That’s the one thing everybody has loved,” says Freeman. A bedroom and private bath are also located on the first floor.

The kitchen embodies upscale modernity with latte cabinetry and a tumbled marble tile backsplash with bronze Deco tiles. It features stainless steel appliances, double ovens, glass storage bins for dry goods and Zodiaq engineered stone countertops in brown topaz. The pendant lights over the bar and the chandelier in the dining nook are stained glass with an oil-rubbed bronze finish. The colors coordinate perfectly with the paint, floors and countertops in the large living area.

The kitchen, keeping room, eat-in area and family room open into each other and make for a great entertaining space. Custom-built bookcases and a television niche surround the fireplace. Off the family room is a mudroom, with room for a freezer, as well as a half-bath. 

For bathrooms and other select rooms, Freeman chose interesting wall coverings, or wallpaper, that often resembles faux finishing techniques. In the half-bath located off the family room, the wall covering features a diamond pattern with a burnished-cream crackled finish for the background. Freeman chose a furniture-style vanity with a black granite countertop and another unique light fixture. All of the light fixtures in the house came from Ferguson’s showroom.  

“Ceiling lights in the powder room have become more and more popular,” says Freeman of the black, wrought-iron lantern in the bathroom. “This is really an outside light. It reminds me so much of the lines in the kitchen and it works well with the lines in the paper.”

With all of the latest amenities and finishes incorporated in the Jimmy V house, it makes sense that it would feature the latest in technology as well. Just off the mudroom is a closet that houses the ‘brain’ of the home, featuring everything from Ipod wiring and an upscale lighting system to automated surround sound in three locations.

Upstairs are three more bedrooms and a generous game room with areas for billiards, a poker table and pinball. Freeman took the opportunity in this area to display some treasured Jimmy V memorabilia she found at the foundation. The game room boasts a private bath with painted wainscoating, octagonal floor tiles and a mission-style vanity with a marble top and glass doors.

Freeman furnished one of the upstairs bedrooms as a theater room, which includes a large walk-in closet and access to a buddy bath with extensive tilework and double pedestal sinks. The elegant master bedroom includes a giant bathroom with spa-quality finishes, including a whirlpool tub, Italian tile, stone countertops, separate dressing area, roomy shower and separate his-and-her walk-in closets. Back in the hallway, another flight of stairs takes visitors to an unfinished walk-up attic with plenty of storage space.

It all goes to cancer research

The Jimmy V House at the Peninsula of Amberly is listed for $539,180. Discounted offers will not be accepted.  The entire project is the culmination of hundreds of people donating services in an effort to help find a cure for cancer—from GS Carolina, which donated a large amount for the land, to countless painters, stone masons and others.

“We partner with all of our subcontractors who basically do the work at cost and then we take absolutely no profit,” explains Jim Swingle, in sales and marketing at 1st American Builders. “Everything that was done on the house was done at cost. Every bit of profit that’s made above and beyond that is given to the foundation.”

After this year’s charity house is sold, Swingle estimates the V Foundation will have received more than $350,000. The goal is to give a million dollars in ten years to the foundation. “I hope that we reach that goal before the ten years is up so we can give even more than that.”

A reception was held at the house on October 4, 2007 where guests could socialize and view the home.  A silent auction was held with items ranging from home décor to sports paraphernalia and jewelry.  In addition, a raffle was created to raise extra money for the foundation. “This year we partnered with Time Warner Cable, and had a raffle for a 50-inch TV and a couple of recliners,” says Mike Dixon, vice president of Genesis Marketing Partners, which represents 1st American Builders.  This year the auction and raffle together raised $4,005.

Dixon also notes that Charity Navigator, a charity watchdog, has ranked the V Foundation as a four-star charity for the past five years. The foundation is 100 percent endowed so all donations go directly to cancer research. 

Michael Dean Chadwick, CEO at 1st American Builders, is the brainchild of the charity house (see Builder profile), but he’s the first to admit it couldn’t happen without everyone pulling together.

“It takes a lot of ingredients to make brownies that you want to eat. This takes a lot of ingredients and a lot of people putting a lot of effort in—some seen and some unseen,” says Chadwick. “The painter who gives $200 is equivalent to someone else giving $25,000 because he’s really giving a tremendous portion of his profits off his job. Everyone’s to be congratulated.”

Photo Credit 
Jimmy V Photo provided by The V Foundation

Home Photgraphy by Ray Strawbridge