Creating the Home of Infinite Good Taste Story by Barry Mathias | Photography by www.joannway.com
The attractive new home of Karl and Celia Meade sits comfortably in its landscaped garden. A sloping driveway passes a cottage, now Karl's office and Celia's studio, and a pair of stone steps leads down to the front door. Each step has ornate patterns of blue tiles, and thyme grows in the cracks of the stone patio. "The building was completed six months ago," Celia says, as we sit in the airy lounge. My first impression of this house is of space, light,
46 SEASIDE homes | september 2013
and a sensitive blend of stone and wood. From the windows there are dramatic perspectives of bustling Ganges Harbour, while inside there is a sense of peace and tranquility. "We wanted the windows to provide us with good views, but to be equally attractive from the outside," says Karl, who is a geological and geophysical engineer. Celia has an MA in fine arts and interior design, and with a thick file of ideas was responsible for the subtle blending of colors and textures throughout the building, and for choosing the distinctive and unusual light fixtures which adorn every room. "My father was a practising surgeon on Salt Spring; we've lived here for 12 years." Their original house on this site did not prove suitable for the changes they wished to make, and they were advised to demolish it and rebuild on the footprint. Trevor Wilson, a director of Wilco Construction Ltd., was the project manager, responsible for the demolition and the construction, and he worked with the Meades on the interior and exterior design. "We've known Trevor for a long time and he and his firm have an excellent reputation," Celia says. I meet Wilco's Mary Ellen Henderson, who is the firm's project coordinator and has worked with Karl and Celia for the past two years. "It was a luxury to work with people who knew what they wanted to achieve," she says. It was her job to coordinate the many skilled artisans who worked to achieve the originality and distinction of this house. A high, curved cherry wood ceiling with hidden lights gives the lounge a sense of grandeur that is enhanced by a wall of local grey and imported light blue stone that rises 25 feet, embracing the woodburning stove. The hearth extends nine feet and is a single