12:02 p.m. I get a jump on the other visitors in this year's Coastal Home Tour and Tea by arriving early at Rose Pointe Ocean House in Hopkin's Landing to pick up my map that will guide me to six new or renovated homes. Too bad it's spitting rain. This event is a fundraiser for the Coast's Botanical Garden Society and the volunteers are out in the garden setting up an elegant silver and china tea service under a tent. On the porch, harpist Maureen Bodie tunes her instrument. "Oh, I'm sure it will clear up," says organizer Patricia Hetherington, from behind the rain spots on her glasses.
Map in hand, I set out for Rustic Luxury.
12:20: Parking on Gibsons' Marine Drive is no fun, but the refurbished home is delightful. Owners Joanie and Fred Carter had their son-in-law, builder Daryl Hoffman, strip out an original, average, waterfront home and rebuild with mocha-brown walls, colourful portraits and still lifes by daughter Tansy Carter. The gourmet cook's kitchen is complete with Wolf stove, and the bathrooms feature dark antique sideboards with inset rectangular sinks. Onward to the Bluff house with its spectacular view over Franklin Road beach. This one's for sale for a cool $1.29 million. The layout is neat, like an old fashioned lodge, with rooms diverging into separate wings under original open beam ceilings. The home has a cool and airy interior.
1:14: Leave the bluff. Decide to stop at Wendy's for lunch. Ponder why my house doesn't look as good and whether I could be as gracious and welcoming to guests as are these homeowners. 2 p.m. The only Roberts Creek home on the list belongs to the Botanical Garden Society's director and nature photographer Paddy Wales. The home, by architect Leith Anderson, sits in an orchard, and every window view is designed to pull the many garden flowers into the home. It features high ceilings with a stone fireplace and recycled maple gymnasium floors. Her utility room/mud room is almost as big as the kitchen - very sensible for gardeners. Wales tells me about the next fundraiser for the Botanical Garden Society - an Art in the Gardens Tour on Saturday, July 9, when six gardens will be linked up with 10 artists. It's a natural. (Tickets for $10 members and $12 non-members are available at various nurseries or see their website: www.coastbotanicalgarden.org.
2:40: The view home on Abbs Road has a luxurious, fully finished basement suite with maple counters in both kitchen and bathroom. Upstairs, work is in progress, except for the completed contemporary tiled bathroom. The owners have full time jobs and return at night to their additional job: home renovation. They say they love it - inspiring 3:15: Just down the road is the artistic home of Carmen Dixon featuring a garden of tropical plants and mosaic work. In 1993, her house was gutted and the roof was lifted to turn a simple cottage into a two-storey home. The upper floor is a luxurious black and white bedroom with en suite and fireplace.
3:40: Decide to skip the last stop on the list: artist Helen Downing Hunter and Peter Bell Thomson's award-winning home, because I've visited there before and I know it to be a charming collection of lovingly transformed recycled materials. No time - must go home and renovate the kitchen.
