Feng Shui in Greater Victoria

CELEBRATING BEAUTY AND LOCAL DESIGN STYLE
re-printed from The Times Colonist, July 30, 2011

This weekly series takes readers on a tour of outstanding homes in Greater Victoria. Writer Thelma Fayle and award-winning photographer Ted Grant take you inside houses that show off unique architecture and design. Look for House Beautiful every Saturday in the Times Colonist Homes section.

Gail and Marty Cole drew heavily on a blend of the principles of an ancient Chinese system of esthetics and North American mechanical engineering practices to build their home. The third leg of the triad of influences was Sarah Susanka’s well-known book, The Not So Big House.

“Susanka suggests you need to use all of your spaces, and we do,” says Gail. “We didn’t want a house that was way bigger than we needed.”

Their new home is 2,600 square feet to be exact, and that includes 1,000 square feet for a separate suite.

“We started with an empty lot in the Maplewood area,” says Gail, “and it has been our labour of love for 2 1 ?2 years.”

The first floor contains a spacious, one-bedroom suite for Marty’s 90-year-oldmother, Terry Cole.

The lively, English-born artist has her own entrance, garden, laundry room, kitchen and living room.

“Mum loves the security of having us close by in case she needs support,” says Gail, “but she is also very independent and is really respected in her space.”

“The suite is beautiful and comfortable,” says Terry, who has painted all of her life and is surrounded by her art. “Painting keeps me going,” she says, and she seems to enjoy excellent health. “I appreciate that I am very lucky.”

One very striking recent painting is of her son Marty on Authenticity, the sailboat that took him three years to build.

Marty and Gail built their main living space on the second floor to be able to appreciate the spectacular view of sunsets over the Sooke Hills.

As we tour through the house, Gail, a feng shui practitioner with a diploma in business administration from the University of Victoria and a certification from the Western School of Feng Shui in San Diego, introduces the concepts that guide her design thoughts.

Gail wanted a welcoming fountain near the front door, and Marty, the mechanical engineer, built the elegant waterfall with its edging made of copper pipes.

“All of our sinks have a dozen or so small rocks placed around the drain,” she says.

“The reason is that energy, or chi, is said to ‘go down the drain.’ The rocks cause the water to pool and empty slowly. All of your wealth can symbolically go ‘down the drain,’ so to speak, if you are not aware in life and thoughtfully slowing that process,” Gail says.

References like the “love and marriage corner,” “helpful people corner,” “wealth corner,” “fire element,” “creating flow,” etc., were new to me, but the overall effect was transparent. The house is full of vitality. Lots of gentle chiming and waterfall sounds make the house feel alive and cosy.

“It all flows,” says Gail. “Feng shui is about flow.”

The couple used feng shui principles to decorate their former condo, which they had no trouble selling.

Other design thoughts included the placement of two garage doors rather than one extra-wide door – to break up the mass at the front of the house. A fun little Mexicanthemed powder room was built around a colourful sink they found on a vacation. “It is just paint and a few tiles and some pretty decoration,” says Gail.

Antique furniture in the guest bedroom is a comforting reminder of Gail’s parents, and a big sign on the wall advises their guests to “Relax.”

On the holiday weekend three summers ago, Gail and Marty embarked on a 14-hour project to build a spectacular, angular glassblock wall separating the master bedroom from the ensuite bathroom. The glass blocks don’t go all the way to the ceiling, which increases air flow.

“It was 80 degrees outside and, once we started, we had to finish stacking and cementing roughly 100 blocks, which included [blocks of] different sizes and shapes. So the job has to be well planned,” says Marty.

“We got it done, and will always remember that Canada Day,” Gail says.

Of all Marty’s creative project, Gail is particularly enthusiastic about a wooden frame around a bamboo blind that covers the TV screen in the living room when the set if turned off. It is operated with a simple chain, and lowering or raising it completely changes the ambience of the room.

Gail and Marty both work from home and share an office with a little deck where they can retreat for some fresh air and rest. The desks are comfortable, take up little space and were built in by Marty. The nearby family wall in a hallway is full of pictures of their four grown children.

Floors in the master bedroom, bathroom and office are all heated. “We put in three days of feeding pipe through floors,” says Gail.

“I also did electrical for the first time in my life when I installed about 50 electrical boxes. Marty is a good teacher and showed me how to do one, and then I did the rest.

“This was not an easy feat for someone like me who had no building experience,” says Gail. “I felt a little overwhelmed when we started.”

“We probably saved $250,000 by doing everything ourselves,” says Marty. “Except for the insulation and the upstairs drywall, the two of us built the whole house.”

“We put our heart and soul into this house,” Gail says.

“After our home was built, we decided to reflect and think about what we wanted to do with the rest of our lives,” Marty says. “I decided to start a consulting company called Ripple Rock Engineering and Gail started her All Things Balanced business.”

Married only a year, these newlyweds have already accomplished so much.

CREDITS:

Design and project management: Ripple Rock Engineering (Marty Cole)

Feng shui design and consulting: All Things Balanced (Gail Cole)

Doors, windows and lumber supplies: Slegg Lumber (Dave Quissy)

Bathroom and plumbing supplies: Andrew Sherett (Vera Roussinos)

Hardiplank siding contractor: Pacific Rim Exteriors (Trevor Strandlund)

Interior design consultant: Susan Hargreaves

Light fixtures: McLaren Lighting¶
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