Daily Archives: December 11, 2009

The Cullens' Mouth of Chi (no blood here!)

There’s a lot of buzz about the Twilight series of books and films. In the design world, the house that Edward Cullen’s family of vampires lives in is getting much attention, too. The spectacular $3M home of glass set in the woods of West Vancouver is owned by Brian Hemingway. Built in the early 1950’s by architect Arthur Charles Erickson and later renovated to perfection by Hemingway, the house is a scene-stealer in the New Moon movie.

Let’s look at the feng shui in these pics. I’m told that the home is reached by a long meandering driveway. Right off the bat (no pun intended, I swear) this is good feng shui. You don’t want any “poison arrows” that bring the chi energy in a straight shot to your home if you can avoid it. The Mouth of Chi (front entry door) has several positive features: well lit, strong beautiful wooden doors and handles, and a tree to the right. What I don’t like is the beam jutting out towards you as you walk down the path to the door. It could be softened if you hung a gorgeous plant or some kind of flag/banner or just remove the darn thing.

The interior has a good mix of elements (wood, fire, metal, earth, water) but seems a little top-heavy in the “water” element. Besides the pool, the abundance of glass windows also represents water. The white walls represent metal. Of course there is a lot of wood in the house but the views also bring the forest and earth inside.

The fireplace especially pleases me because it has curves which offset the sharp, angular, masculine (yang) qualities of this house.

One photo that shows an angled windowed corner jutting into the room is what we call in feng shui terms “a knife edge”. If you sit or sleep directly in the pathway of this energy you will not feel very comfortable. The feng shui cure would be to place a potted tree there with big round leaves so the sharp corner is covered up and the chi energy diffused.

The Cullens might also be practicing feng shui since they have set the intention to not eat people. Setting intentions is an excellent way to boost feng shui!