It was the turquoise blue chairs sitting in the rooftop garden of what’s known as This Green Home in Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast that immediately caught my eye during a recent visit.
I was even more impressed when homeowner Gail Hunt explained the chairs were reclaimed from Vancouver’s Nat Bailey Stadium. Salvaged chairs are just one tiny example of the lengths Hunt and her husband have gone to build an environmentally sensitive, sustainable home made up of re-used and locally sourced materials. The house uses a rainwater collection system to flush toilets and soy-based foam insulation for warmth. Even the landscaping was completed to reduce the need for watering.
But while the details of the infrastructure of this unique home are interesting, it’s the story of the house and the hand-made treasures and collectables found around each corner that give it life. As Hunt points out the old-growth fir floors reclaimed from six Vancouver homes, the kitchen nook purchased from a Salvation Army store, the extra wide doors from the math department at the University of B.C., and chimney bricks recycled from various demolition sites, it’s obvious the house has been a labour of love.
It’s also just one of the reasons This Green House is included in a new Sunshine Coast tourism initiative called Catch Our Drift: Earthly Journeys, which has partnered with some talented locals to offer a variety of seasonal and year-round tours including an animal farm adventure, food-sampling tour of Gibsons Landing, organic chicken farm and wild edibles. Art tours include workshops on everything from cattail creations to chicken feather crafts.
Hunt is also a textile artist and internationally renowned quilter and during our tour gave us a demonstration on making fabric postcards in her quaint studio just steps from the main house.
The couple has kept a detailed blog on building the home, which includes anecdotal stories about reclaiming materials found on Craigslist, in landfills, back alleys and thrift stores. They also break down the $258,000 they’ve saved by doing tasks themselves, including $113,761 from not hiring a general contractor. As a retired home-economics teacher, Hunt was able to take on that job.
A tour of This Green House includes a vegetarian lunch, but visitors should not expect to be served. During my visit with a group of travel writers, we were put to work creating hand-made corn tortillas, guacamole and Spanish rice. But it was the quinoa maple chocolate cake that was the hit of the lunch — no surprise since none of the writers in attendance had a hand in creating it.
Getting there, staying there:
With the Sunshine Coast such an easy day trip from Vancouver via Horseshoe Bay, Catch our Drift tours are designed to offer experiences tourists and locals can enjoy.
Bed and breakfasts are a popular way to go if you’re planning on spending a few days and as part of my media tour I was invited to spend one night at Four Winds Beach House on Hill Road in Sechelt. My suite, located in a separate wing of the main home, was perched on a rocky point jutting into the waters of the Georgia Strait, which meant I was treated to a spectacular sunrise. It also included a large soaker tub with a view of the ocean, a deck situated right over the water and a TV with a remote control I could actually use.
For more information visit catchourdrift.ca and fourwindsbeachhouse.com.
