New project a facelift for garden
The kitchen became one large space where formerly it had been a laundry, bathroom, cooking and eating area. The clothes washer and drier are now on either side of the farmer’s sink and a two-drawer dishwasher is beside the second sink, facing the courtyard and gazebo outside.
Louise likes to rearrange things and not only moved the living-room fireplace to a different wall, but turned the home’s former rec room (previously a garage) into their master bedroom, with luxurious marblewalled ensuite and a wall of glass-fronted closets curtained with Mulberry tartan.
A broad veranda facing Ganges Harbour, previously enclosed, became a new sitting area at one end and expansive dining room at the other, where candles sparkle and play around the glass on both sides.
Louise enjoys choosing unique pieces of art, which add to the style and charm of the house. While working in Hamburg, she was walking by an auction house and spotted a jumble of interesting busts on a table. “I was collecting them at the time so I went in and discovered to my surprise that it was a painting.” She left a bid as she was on her way to work, but won the artwork and used to display it in front of a half-glass table with real busts, as an amusing trompe l’oeil. Today, it hangs in their den, with a round mirror to one side, echoing one on the lower left of the painting.
Another painting chose her when she still lived in London. “I was working as a retail buyer and had an apartment on Bond Street right next door to Sotheby’s [auctioneers]. One day I popped in and walked past a portrait of Sir William Talbot, Bishop of Durham in 1654, and I swear he winked at me.” Of course, she couldn’t resist. The painting now stands beside the piano where Sir William can wink or perhaps hum along with a pianist.
The Devlins are now focusing on a facelift for the garden, since the climate on Salt Spring Island is warmer and drier now than in years past. The owners have built water-efficient wicking beds for vegetables, so plants can care for themselves for up to a week, while drawing water from below and saving evaporation of surface water.
They are also replacing many of the former lavish flowerbeds and much of the lawn with gravel — a great transitional material between garden and home, and a popular design element in many European settings. Ironically, when they bought the property it was advertised as having an outstanding English country garden filled with hundreds of different flowers, but the Devlins are moving away from their roots and creating a Mediterranean landscape with features such as boxwood, lavender and drought-resistant plantings.