There's
nothing quite like Akasha, where no detail has been overlooked.
From the paintings by local artist Sue Bayley and handcrafted tiles
by Whistler potter Vincent Massey gracing a bathroom wall to Melanie
Rowe's individually sculpted 24-Karat gold tiles bordering the lap
pool to the four totem poles carved by a well-known native artist
Xwa'Lack'Tun (Rick Harry), Akasha is brimming with creativity and
spirituality. It was important for Bonnie and Andy that Akasha be
a welcoming place. "The energy and flow was a big part of the house,"
says Bonnie.
The home also has a fondness with those who worked on it. Two of
Bonnie's personal friends, Rowe, a glass artist, and Xwa'Lack'Tun,
were reunited at Akasha. The two had met previously in the Czech
Republic but had lost contact. Unaware that they knew each other,
Bonnie commissioned both of them to work on Akasha and it was there
that they came together as artists. At Akasha, new relationships
formed and others were revisited.
"The
really neat thing was that everyone who worked on the house was
really excited about the project and wanted to put there best into
it," says Bonnie. Great effort was made to ensure that even the
smallest detail would fit with the overall theme of the home. The
outside of the home is basalt stone - in Native culture, the most
powerful healing stone. At the pool are Xwa'Lack'Tun's four carved
totem poles, each representing one of the four directions of the
medicine wheel?
The
exterior of the home is covered with five-inch hand-split basalt
stone. The driveway is constructed of heated flagstone, keeping
it snow-free - handy, as the home sits on the prestigious Sunridge
Plateau, the highest development on the mountain. The home features
a total of 29.5 rooms - four bedrooms; six and a half bathrooms;
a living room with 180-degree views of the Village and golf courses;
dining room; kitchen and walk-in pantry; familyroom; mud room; |
entry; study
with fireplace and paparazzi-proof balcony; sitting room; laundry
room; cupola room; media room with a theatre system; bar room; spa
and pool room; change room and second laundry area; wine cellar;
two mechanical rooms; storage rooms and a two-car, maple-paneled
garage. Don't forget the sculptured rock and exquisite red and yellow
cedar throughout the home.
The painstaking
effort in planning for Akasha has paid off - on more than one level.
Bonnie had
a Feng Shui expert visit the while she was still in the building
stage and she was pleased to have him report that he wouldn't change
anything.
"He was very impressed it was such a good feeling."
When it sold
in early 2000, Akasha broke all real estate records in Whistler.
At ? million, it was the highest price real estate ever on the
market here. Today, there are a number of million-dollar homes on
the market and construction continues on Sunridge. Akasha will soon
have many new neighbors, but still, nothing compares to this magnificent
home.
For the Munsters
and other valley developers, Akasha presents a new era in Whistler.
Now, the challenge is to go one step further. "We're not stopping
at Akasha," says Andy. "It just inspires us to do more, to come
up with new ideas and stay ahead of the market." Akasha started
out as a vision and came together after a lot of dreaming and even
harder work. "In the beginning, there were a lot of nonbelievers,"
says Andy. "But we had lots of support too. It was a vision … we
felt confident we were doing the right thing." |