CNN Food and Health News: 'Feng Shui'
CNN Food and Health

'Feng Shui' opens door to home-buying Asians

September 10, 1995
Web posted at: 11:00 p.m. EDT

From Correspondent Susan Reed

Family

FREEMONT, California (CNN) -- Homebuilders are finding success selling homes carefully developed for a certain buyer. In California, that buyer is often Asian. The result is a special blend of ancient philosophy and modern technology.

The number of Asians living in the United States more than doubled between 1980 and 1990. No where is that more evident than in California. New home buyers in a San Jose suburb are 70 percent Asian. Many of them have special requirements, like the house facing north to south, aligned with the poles of good business and good fortune.

In one housing development, nearly every house has the number 8 in the address. "Number 8 means wealth and you will be very successful in business," said Bill Li a new homeowner.

For many Asians, it's good Feng Shui, beliefs from ancient Chinese tradition that affect everyday life, especially in the home.

Feng Shui Feng Shui literally translated means "wind and water". It is not a religious practice but a philosophy, similar to a natural science, originally created as an art and science to orient buildings and cities. The idea for building a home a particular way, following the "Form School" of Feng Shui, is to establish good ch'i, which is good luck. Another side is called the "Compass School" which uses compass directions as a guide. Whichever school is followed the purpose is to bring a sense of harmony, balance and order to a person's life.

If a staircase flows out the front door, it's is believed all the wealth and good luck will flow out too and a house must never have a street head directly into it. That's bad luck, or bad Feng Shui. "The whole concept of Feng Shui was not something we came up with. It was something our Asian buyers were constantly asking us to make changes to in some of the homes," said Lisa Kalmbach, president of Kaufman and Broad.

Building

So homebuilders hire consultants, and build homes from the ground up, with good Feng Shui. This isn't a trend of the 90s but a centuries old philosophy, nor is it something concentrated only in northern California. Southern California, Seattle, and Hawaii, in all these places they're building homes with Feng Shui principles.

People who have never heard of Feng Shui find the designs very attractive and for developers the designs bring good luck too, since their sales are excellent.



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