Home Grown*

The last coat of paint has been applied and the final box unpacked. You might think your work is done, but you'd be mistaken. Now begins the exciting process of turning bricks and mortar into memories and experiences marked by celebrations and tragedies, growth and attrition, joy and grief, and everything else that life throws at us. Homes develop from the inside out and, despite the apparent rigidity of drywall and siding, the structure of an organically grown home inhales and exhales, stretches and shrinks, adapts and evolves and—piece-by-piece—begins to write its own story.

The process of converting a house to a home can begin in a variety of ways … it might start with something as simple as the first spilled drink or scuffed wall, or something as momentous as bringing home a new infant and slowly accepting a Fisher-Price colour palette into your 'designer' living room. Signs of living and signs of life provide integrity and authenticity to a home and, without these random departures from perfection, a house remains little more than a utilitarian container.

Houses are built. Homes are grown.

An organically grown home is a patient one. A house furnished and decorated in one fell swoop runs the risk of becoming a one-dimensional stage set where everything belongs to the same style and era reflecting only your mood and preferences during a very narrow and finite period of time—i.e. the few crazy weeks before you moved in! It is the equivalent of summing up your entire life in a snapshot versus a feature film.

An organically grown home adapts to fit you. Design and social convention often make us behave in a certain way to fit a space instead taking charge and turning it round the other way. So, if you decide to convert the designated ‘master bedroom’ with its magnificent view of Kootenay Lake into an office because that's where you spend most of your day, go for it! There are other places you can sleep.

An organically grown home never stops evolving. Nest building is a work in progress. The need to accommodate a growing family will likely come to an end when one or all of the children leave home. Certain rooms can be re-purposed as you develop new interests and hobbies. Or, perhaps an elderly relative is moving into the basement and your son's black walls and heavy metal band posters need to be exchanged for pastels and needlepoint! Change is a constant in our lives and an organically grown home is one that reflects, supports and celebrates it.

 *Adapted from Nest Building: A Guide To Finding Your Inner Interior Designer, written and published by Kate Bridger. Visit www.redfernhouse.ca to purchase your copy or find your nearest retailer.

Mxing It Up In Nelson

The domestic architecture of Nelson is as diverse, whacky, wonderful and intriguing as the people it houses. We are fortunate that we lack the space—and the collective inclination—to develop sprawling homogeneous enclaves of cookie-cutter homes like so many other North American communities. Of course, we have our fair share of new townhouse developments and small subdivisions, but they are sufficiently tucked away so as not to disrupt the aesthetic landscape of our established residential neighbourhoods. 

Classic Victorian architecture sharing the street with contemporary houses creates a neighbourhood with a visible personality; it encourages self-expression and invites diversity. Newness co-existing with antiquity allows the old to be respected and preserved by keeping the neighbourhood alive, vibrant and guaranteeing its place in the future.

It is similar to the process of succession in a forest. The new saplings grow up amid the old growth until it is time for the old growth to die off and the younger vegetation to take over.  Just like the forest, a neighbourhood developed naturally over time is far healthier and more dynamic than a ‘clear cut’ where older homes are razed and the ‘new growth’ that replaces them is often selected on the basis of uniformity and expedience.

Take a stroll through Nelson’s main residential areas—Fairview, Uphill and Rosemont—and you will quickly recognize that each one has its own distinct character and, within each neighbourhood, there are tidy homes, funky unconventional structures, classic ginger breaded houses and the clean-lined stark silhouettes of ultra-modern development. You’ll find ever-so-‘umble abodes dwarfed by majestic ‘mansionettes’, once simple bungalows now proudly holding up a second storey, or a single family home that’s been artfully converted into a multi-family dwelling. Many Nelsonites are refreshingly creative and not coy about letting their personalities show on the outside of their homes with bold colour combinations or sculptural attachments.

You don’t have to love them all, but the visual interest and the varied demographics occupying our neighbourhoods definitely contribute to the Nelson we love.