This story was originally published in Coast Reporter's winter edition of Coast Life magazine.
When renowned artist Todd Clark and his wife, equestrian Carol Marlowe first laid eyes on the nearly five-acre property tucked away in a quiet corner of Gibsons, they thought it was “too good to be true,” says Todd. The couple put in an offer that same evening.
The house was built by Beth and Chris Napper. “They cleared the lot. Put a well in. They lived in the house for three years without windows. Apparently, because they were not made yet.” Says Todd. With the aid of a portable lumber mill, “They basically made everything from lumber on the property and imported hardware from Europe where they’re from originally.” A process the Nappers later repeated when they moved to Cortes Island and built themselves a new home.
The house in Gibsons has a unique topdown layout. “The bottom of the house was a workshop; [the Nappers] lived upstairs. The space where my paintings are now used to be the woodworking shop. [The other half of the space] was a separate room, with a door here and a little small entrance into the workshop. But this was really for milking goats. That’s why the floor is sort of sloping downwards, to hose down the milk.”
After what later became Todd’s studio building was built, the upstairs was changed to an open plan with the kitchen, living, and dining areas wrapped around a narrow central open staircase. The two rooms on the lower level were converted into bedrooms, and the one and a half bathrooms were renovated.
Todd and Carol started off sleeping in the smaller bedroom but quickly realized the larger room made more sense with the added benefit of the wood stove, which is the main source of heat. Todd considers the wood stove the best feature of the house: “It makes things very nice and cozy in winter,” he says.
Originally from Calgary, Todd moved to Winnipeg when he was a teen, where he met Carol. The two then set their sights on Vancouver. “We were doing triathlons in our earlier years and Vancouver was the Mecca for triathlons at the time. We came out here to train,” explains Todd. From Vancouver, they eventually moved to the Coast.
The couple were looking for a larger parcel of land to expand Carol’s equestrian activities. She rescues retired racetrack thoroughbreds and provides them with new purpose as eventing horses. Eventing is a sport that involves a three-day, cross-country obstacle course. Thoroughbreds were not originally used for eventing but attitudes have shifted over the years. Though they currently have three horses, Nash, Paul and Tristian, Carol mostly rides Tristian in competition. “The other [horses] are essentially giant lawn ornaments,” Todd adds.
Approaching the house today via a winding paving-stone footpath bordered by waist-high, stacked, native-rock retaining walls, the front gardens are unrecognizable from the utilitarian greenhouses, dilapidated chicken coops and extensive lawns that existed in the Nappers’ time. Todd and Carol cleared the back lot of trees for their horses and menagerie of animals. At its peak, these included llamas, goats and emus, but was later scaled down to just the dogs, horses, and chickens. The latter are regularly picked off by resident bears.
“There’s a mama with three cubs hanging out near the chicken coop. She’s killed four of my chickens,” says Todd. While destructive, Todd says they don’t mind the bears overall. They were here first.
Todd planted more trees to break up the monoculture of lawn. He estimates he’s planted over a hundred trees of fir, cedar, maple, and sequoia. Increasing the variety of native plant species naturalizes the gardens and requires less maintenance and interference overall as plants that are happy here take care of themselves.
While Todd would have preferred to renovate the studio building, it was wildly not to code, with studs incorrect distances apart. Instead, they took it down to the foundation, and created a new two-storey structure now fully turned over to Todd’s art.
They used large beams to replicate the feel of the fir beams in the main house. Todd describes the process: “We called these beams mankillers because we needed five guys to lift them into place. I thought someone was going to die that day. We built a contraption where they were lifted onto one step. Then everybody got in position and we’d lift them onto another step, inching them up the wall and then finally onto the top post.” Fortunately, no one was injured.
For Todd and Carol, their new abode was not without its challenges. The Nappers were conservative with their materials, and scaled their residence to match. “The counters were low, and we had to bend down to use the bathroom mirrors,” Todd recalls. They renovated both bathrooms, giving away a clawfoot tub to friends, and installing a new tub, shower, toilets and vanities, scaled to their stature.
Over the quarter century they’ve lived in the home, Todd and Carol upgraded the house to modern sensibilities. They upgraded the windows from the original single-pane ones handmade by the Nappers which were warped, inefficient and cold. Another problem they tackled was that of heat distribution throughout the house. They added more vents and partial-height walls to allow the hot air to flow more easily between rooms and to the upper floor, greatly improving the heating situation.
If they had to start from scratch, the couple would not have chosen the current layout. With the kitchen upstairs it’s awkward to bring up groceries and other goods.
“Just because we’re getting older and it’s going to be harder for us to go up and down the stairs.” says Todd.
The art- and photo-lined wood staircase, while beautiful, can be a bit treacherous with four helpful and friendly dogs underfoot. Still, the open plan of the upstairs, with its vaulted cathedral roofline, provides a great view from their dining room window.
“You can sit at our dining room table and look out over the orchard,” describes Todd, who enjoys its changes through the seasons. With the backdrop of tall trees just beyond, it seems impossible to believe you are still within Gibsons town limits—a wonderful perk of Sunshine Coast living to feel so remote, yet still close to every amenity.
