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VOL. 12.2

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Lifestyle is one of those elusive dreams that most people search for. For beginners they need to find the perfect place serving up just the right ingredients to match their dreams. Few people think of building lifestyle, at least not in the manner that Shahe Donabedian, proprietor of Palace of Art antique business, does. He has a vision of life on a tropical island, and is determined to build it right around himself: not just the walls of a house, but his own private community.

“I want to choose my neighbours,” says Shahe,” and I want to surround my own home with beautiful architecture. I don’t want one of those ugly commercial buildings or shophouses right next to this. He gestures to the small Thai-style village surrounding him, a half dozen separate buildings harmonious in their near-classic interpretation of Thai architecture. This is Shahe’s newly built home and office, a small complex that catches vision and turns heads of most who drive down the road linking the Heroine’s Monument to the west coast beaches.

Palace Gardens will be an exclusive gathering of seven private homes built adjoining this striking complex. Their Thai-style architecture will co-ordinate with Shahe’s existing buildings, while following tradition even more closely with the ‘cluster’ concept. This traditional arrangement of a well-to-do Thai house groups several buildings, each only one room, facing inwards and connected by a central, raised platform. Shahe’s own house used separate buildings for each room, but rearranged them in a very creative and practical, though non-traditional manner. The new houses will face inwards in the traditional manner, but the centrepiece will become a swimming pool. A major advantage of this concept that suits western precepts is privacy, for one rarely looks onto a neighbour.

Each house will occupy almost one rai of land (1,600 sq. metres), more than in most housing estates, with the space adorned with manicured gardens and lawn. Giving each prospective client a vision of the finished product will be easy look over the low fence into Shahe’s own beautifully kept gardens.

Money, says Shahe, is not his main motivation for getting into the housing industry. “I make enough money with my antique business. Here I only want to cover the cost of my sweat plus a little.” But importantly, he says “I want to choose my neighbours. And I want to be able to look out over my creation and not see ugly buildings.”
Judging by the beauty of the complex already completed Shahe is going to have some of the most attractive views on the island – with no need of the ocean.