Internationally Influenced Home Design

Morley Brown has created a personal sanctuary in the city. His peaceful southwest Calgary home, inspired by a long journey through India and Tibet, is an altar to his experience.

From outside, the 2,850-square-foot townhouse looks like any other lining the square, its brownstone exterior indistinguishable from its neighbours. However, the moment you step inside it becomes clear — this is not your typical brownstone.

The rooms are swathed in a serene palette of smoky greys, reds and purples, coppers, blues and creams — more than 20 colours in all. A 56-square-foot riverstone waterfall forms a constant backdrop through the main living area and fills the space with its peaceful sound.

Brown, a geologic engineer, says the home has undergone a total transformation since he first moved in. When he purchased the townhouse in August 2003, it was fairly typical of the area, with standard finishes and a stark-white and builder-beige colour scheme. But Brown and his girlfriend at the time had other ideas.

“I wanted to create a sanctuary,” says Brown. His first step was to import two sets of pillars from northern India and Tibet — via Buhran Galleries — for the dining area. They quickly became the foundation for a theme that now runs throughout.

Brown continued to work with the existing layout as the home’s decor developed. The only structural change he has made was to open up the dining room by removing the half wall that enclosed it and to cut arches into the bulkheads, which are now supported by the imported pillars. Despite the fact all the other changes are decorative treatments, the transformation from standard to spectacular is complete.

Brown didn’t create this change alone. He first consulted with Benjiman Brennan of Maria Tomás home decor shop on the colour scheme.

Brennan recommended a timeless palette and also introduced Brown to designer Julia Lindsay and mixed-media artist Jocelyne Soubliere. Over the past four years, these two women have helped Brown to complete work on the home in stages.

One of the main techniques used to create the look was faux finishing. Even though the house had been repainted when she arrived, Lindsay thought it had an unfinished vibe.

To address this, she had the white windows and trim painted and suggested a faux finish to warm up the walls. Lindsay says that she normally likes to use faux treatments only for very specific aspects of a project, but the design for Brown’s home required a more extensive approach.

“India is a spiritual place,” says Lindsay. “That’s what we were trying to create when we put that house together. We wanted to create an energy in the house.”

Soubliere says faux finishes can make a dramatic difference to the mood of a room and will often soften a space without making it feel smaller. She credits the form’s versatility to the fact that, when expertly applied, it will mimic almost any finish, including wood, stucco or metal. While some of the techniques have gotten a bad name from poorly executed versions, Soubliere stresses that faux is an art form on its own and needs an expert touch.

Over the past three years, Soubliere has worked on various projects in Brown’s home, including creating the dining room’s opulent copper leaf ceiling, as well as custom details like the distressed fireplace surround and threaded-gold pattern in the upstairs hall. Brown also commissioned her to create the painting of Buddha that hangs in his bedroom.

Brown says the incredible results of the work were due to his stepping back and giving Lindsay and Soubliere complete freedom to develop the home’s theme.

“[Faux finishing] doesn’t look like anything until it actually starts getting done,” says Brown. While he says some of the projects looked odd when they were in development, he didn’t attempt to change things or interfere. “I trusted them.”

The dining room’s copper leaf ceiling was one surface Brown admits he was unsure about when it was only partially completed. Now, however, he says the finished ceiling is one of his favourite features. In the evenings, it throws a soft light through the entire space and seems to glow.

In addition to ensuring the home’s finishes would work with Brown’s Asian-inspired theme, Lindsay also helped him to plan and furnish the space.

Upstairs, a number of underused corners have been converted to serve specific needs. At the top of the stairs, for example, a small, windowed alcove was transformed into a meditation room. Lindsay says the space was ideal for this purpose and that giving meditation an area all its own makes it a more special part of Brown’s life.

In the master bedroom, another alcove has been converted into a dressing area and yet another into a reading nook.

Brown may have sent away to Asia for some of the home’s art and decor pieces, but Lindsay also shopped locally for key pieces, including the custom sofa and ottoman. A few original pieces were also imported by local shops, such as the oxen harnesses that were used to create a bookshelf in the office and many of the rugs. Lindsay says her Calgary-based search added a bit more sparkle to the home and kept the look from getting too dark.

For Brown, the home now serves as a bridge between the values he experienced on his trip and the hectic pace of Western society.

However, when he wants to step away from his sanctuary he doesn’t have to leave the house.

Instead, Brown heads for what he jokingly calls “the Man Shack” in his basement. Its clean design is in marked contrast to the rest of the condo, and Brown says it’s a space that takes
him back to his Western roots.

Here he has artfully displayed a substantial wine collection in cut sections of chimney pipe that fill every open cubby along and under the angled staircase, and the scent of cigars hangs heavy in the air. The basement is also home to Brown’s media room and his collection of western art. He says this is where his grown children go when they want to hang out and watch a movie.

Despite the years of work that have gone into the home, Brown says he still has other projects in mind, such as finishing the kitchen. “I think it’s still a work in progress,” he says. “I think that’s the important and fun part of it.”