JOHN GASTALDO / Union-Tribune photos A round walnut table and chairs soften the edges of the dining room in this year's San Diego Historical Society Showcase, a 1920s Craftsman-style home. Designers Margo Peters Porras and Michael Caeg took advantage of built-in ledges and shelves to “warm up” the room's white walls.

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This year's San Diego Historical Society Showcase, open to the public now through May 29, is a 1920s Craftsman home on six acres in the San Dieguito River Valley between Del Mar and Fairbanks Ranch. Each of 15 design spaces showcases the talents and creativity of local interior and exterior designers.

Owner Richard Hertzberg painstakingly renovated the 6,000-square-foot, two-story ranch house, and Hollywood comedian/entertainer Danny Kaye (1913-1987) likely used it as a vacation getaway. Yet despite a true-to-the-period exterior, and the fact that Showcase is the main fundraiser for the San Diego Historical Society, few interior design spaces make the past present.