Jeani Read
Province
Bill and Georgy Good are officially empty-nesters now. Their three kids are grown and flown, and they’ve moved from their North Van, Edgemont Village family home to a Coal Harbour condo.
Bill still has a lock on being one of Vancouver’s favourite broadcasters (and the one with the broadest range, from CTV to CKNW), while Georgy is a busy partner with youngest son Derek in Motion Foods, a huge 3,000-sq.-ft. commercial kichen that manufactures private-label foods for businesses that don’t have their own commercial kitchens.
Yes, they also have a getaway on the Sunshine Coast, but it’s taken them just about a year to become devoted urbanites. We asked them about their new city home.
Describe your decor style.
“Modern-contemporary, which blends in with the modern new city that surrounds us. The condo is very white. Our home in North Van had a lot of colours that were carefully picked with help from a decorator, but here we have lots of black to go with the cabinetry and some tan along with the white.”
His or hers?
“Both. We always insist we both have to like something or someone before they get to stay inside.”
Favourite room?
“The den, which is open to the kitchen. The floor-to-ceiling windows look out on Jimmy Pattison’s yacht and all that’s magnificent about Coal Harbour.”
Where do you spend most of you time?
“That very same den-kitchen area.”
Best thing about moving to the city?
“The proximity to CKNW and CTV and the somewhat unexpected neighbourly feel with coffee shops, restaurants, gelato shops and a lot of foot traffic. We’re surprised. We thought it would be more hotel-like but the people are friendly and chatty. We find it similar to Edgemont Village.”
Condo life cool?
“You lock the door and go, and there’s a real sense of security. People in the suburbs balk at the idea of high-density living but I go out at the height of rush hour and there’s no traffic and we never see anybody else in the elevators — your backyard’s Stanley Park, or water views. It’s not a concrete jungle.”
Party people?
“Not really. We like to entertain in small groups where everyone gets to talk to everyone else.”
Dining in or out: pick one.
“We tend to go out a lot in the city where there are so many restaurants and bistros close by, and we cook and barbecue in our weekends on the Sunshine Coast.”
Favourite piece of art?
“Which of your kids do you love the most? We can’t say. We’ve tried to collect a small and eclectic group of paintings by B.C. artists such as Daniel Izzard and Nancy O’Toole.”
Favourite place to read?
“Almost anywhere — we are both avid readers.”
Always in the fridge?
“A chilled Pino Gris and Brie cheese.”
Where’s the T.V.?
“In the den, and it’s the only one.”
Tunes on right now?
“We love our iPod. Probably Keb Mo’ or Jack Johnston.
Oldest thing in the place?
Georgy: “Bill.”
Newest?
“Nearly everything. The furniture and most of what seemed at home in a traditional suburban home just didn’t work in a new condo. We used to live in a very traditional, probably built-in-1964 place (with lots of updating) with big comfy furniture meant for an older home, but that wouldn’t fit here.”
Most sentimental?
“A couple of Daniel Izzard paintings my parents passed on to us, and an Izzard sketch of a mother and child that they gave us for our first anniversary 31 years ago. We just had them all reframed for the more modern setting.”
Favourite?
Bill: “Georgy.”
Georgy: “Good answer.”
© The Vancouver Province 2006