SCANDAL AT THE SYMPHONY HOUSE

For years, the annual showing of the prestigious Designers Showhouse has been sweet music to the Dallas Symphony’s finely tuned ears. This year’s movement, however, ended on a sour note.

Each spring, the symphony handpicks an elegant home and calls on the local chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers to spruce it up inside. After the home is readied, it’s shown to the public for a two-week period. The proceeds for viewing the house are then contributed to the symphony.

From a financial standpoint, the 1985 Dallas Symphony Showhouse was a huge success, raising a whopping $175,000 for the symphony. But this year the showing of the $12 million Preston Falls Estate caused disharmony between the symphony and a number of Dallas interior designers who say they have been collectively jilted to the tune of more than $20,000.

“The designers were left holding the bag,” says Verity Devine, one of 35 Dallas designers who offered free services to the symphony. The designers were supposed to be reimbursed for materials they used by the estate’s owner, North Dallas home builder Bob Reviel.

Devine was short-changed $119 for wall coverings, she says. The loss was far more sizable for interior designer Marilyn Rolnick, who claims Reviel owes her about $7,500. “Reviel was uncooperative,” Rolnick says. “The symphony people were lovely, but he should have been checked out better. He’s just disreputable-that’s all there is to it. I’m suing him.”

Bayne Yancey is another designer who claims Reviel owes him a considerable amount. “I’ve put a lien on the house to insure that he pays me before he sells it,” Yancey says. “But I’ve had it up to my chin. Anything as important as the symphony, we’re backing them. But it’s also a part of the sacred bond for them to protect us. I can’t go with the symphony anymore.”

But Cindy Hudgins, chairman of the 1985 Designers Showhouse for the symphony, says that while the incidents have been unfortunate, the debts are a matter to be settled by the designers and Reviel.

“I feel badly because the designers were neat and a few weren’t paid,” Hudgins says. “But Reviel is paying, even though it’s coming very slowly. You just can’t get blood out of a turnip.”

Obviously, there are two sides to every story. We tried to get Reviel’s-and faced the same problem many of the designers say they’ve had. He doesn’t seem to return his phone calls.