East Meets Midwest: Feng Shui

James Dunne's show home in the Northern Kentucky Home Builders Association Citifest reflects a tradition more than 3,000 years old. He designed and built the 4,050-square-foot, $929,000 Phoenix according to principles of feng shui, an ancient Chinese philosophy. Feng shui means "wind and water" and helps determine the appropriate site placement, floor plan and room layouts to harmonize with spiritual forces and energy.

Dunne worked with feng shui practitioner Cyd Sedgwick on the Newport, Ky., home, which overlooks downtown Cincinnati. Its key feng shui aspects in-clude an open floor plan, abundant natural light and lighting fixtures on room edges to wash walls with gentle light.

Sedgwick used a bagua map, which determines key life areas, to develop the home's flow. The front door, the mouth of Chi (energy), opens to bamboo flooring and an indoor water feature. Above the door, a round, stained-glass window outlined in blue features the symbol for I Ching, the book of learning.

Outside, a subtle brickwork of coins portrays symbols for creativity, welcome and prosperity. Inside, rounded drywall corners promote energy flow. A centralized kitchen anchors the home as the center of health and nurturing energy.