At first glance, the condos of Beverly Sochatsky and Marcus Phillips couldn’t be more different if they were on opposite sides of the world. Phillips’s lively, open-concept design with its rich, jewel-like tones and magnificent kitchen island stands in sharp contrast to the tranquil, divided living zones and neutral shades of Sochatsky’s elegant interior.
In the way that form follows function, style follows personality, it’s already obvious that Sochatsky and Phillips are very different people – in fact, not just different, but opposite. She works in the public sector as a manager of a grants program; he makes his living in the private sector as a restaurateur. She steps out each morning and walks to the office; he often takes to the skies and flies to wherever strikes his fancy.
But take a closer look and you’ll notice that when it comes to underlying design considerations, these two have a lot in common. They were both drawn to the same building, Westwind Estates, for the energetic bustle of downtown living combined with close proximity to green space for outdoor activities, which they both enjoy. “I love to walk, I love to cycle, I’m going to do more cross-country skiing, and all of that is right out my front door,” says Sochatsky.
Their units even have identical footprints – yes, you’re looking at the same condo plans done up in marvellously different ways to reflect the owners’ personalities, which makes the next similarity even more remarkable: they coaxed the same interior designer, David McElheran, outof retirement to design their homes.
When presented with the opportunity to work on Phillips’s project, McElheran explains, “I had just retired from the business so I declined, several times, but I was asked again and again to just come and meet Marcus and tell him how to get started. Well, before that meeting was over, I had accepted his challenge.”
McElheran’s reaction to Sochatsky’s request was – you guessed it – the opposite. The two had worked together 45 years ago at a furniture store before he opened McElheran’s Fine Furniture. Upon seeing Phillips’s renovated condo, she reached out to McElheran. “This was special, so whenI returned to Edmonton [from Phoenix] , I contacted Beverly to see her newly purchased condo,” says McElheran.