‘We believe a home should be a sanctuary, a safe place, a place that welcomes people and embraces them’
By GLORIA DEUTSCHA home with a view, overlooking the picturesque and spiritual Lake Kinneret.(photo credit: URIEL MESSA)
Cindy and Gary Bayer are devout Christians and passionate lovers of Israel who have created a home on the shores of Lake Kinneret – and they express their love for their adopted homeland through the extraordinary beauty and symbolism of that home.“We just look at the Lord as the master designer,” they say, although they would be the first to acknowledge that their home didn’t just happen; it required an architect, Hamoush Levi, to ensure it was safe and had all the necessary permits, and a designer, Rochelle Malherbe, who would see their vision to fulfillment. Nevertheless, they strongly feel that God was directing everything they did.The home is a place for the Bayers not only to live, but also to host the many guests they bring over from the United States – specifically writers and filmmakers from Hollywood and New York, whom they aim to give a positive image of Israel in the hope that they will go back and spread the good word.THE STAIRCASE mural was hand painted by designer Rochelle Malherbe and depicts The Tree Of Life.“We try to invite people who are well-known in the industry and will have an impact on people’s lives,” they say. One of their bestknown guests a few years back was singer Pat Boone, who sat at their piano and warbled “Love Letters in the Sand” for the other guests.The house was built in the late ’90s, and the Bayers acquired it in 2007. Built on only 250 square meters, it has five bedrooms and fiveand- a-half bathrooms, as well as the reception rooms downstairs.They added many archways to the original construction to soften the angular look, and also because they wanted to give a feeling of ancient architecture to a modern building.The terrace looking out over the lake is a focal point for the home.The pool, cool and inviting on sultry Kinneret days, is a place to sit and enjoy the tranquil view of the lake. It is tiled in a gorgeous turquoise shade, with tiles from the Balian workshop in Jerusalem’s Old City, and the design depicts the Tree of Life and the fable of the lion lying with the lamb.One of their favorite rooms is the one they call Abraham’s Tent.It is what they call “a gathering space,” as well as a guest bedroom for two people, as the couches convert to beds. But it is the ceiling that draws the eye, draped as it is with swathes of different fabrics that create a canopy-like effect over the wooden rafters.“This is where we like to sit after a good dinner with our guests and tell stories,” they say. (Gary was an actor in Hollywood and elsewhere before coming here, and storytelling comes naturally to him.) The choice of fabrics is not entirely haphazard, although they basically used what they had in previous homes. By lucky chance, they had a navy-blue material studded with stars, representing God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would be “like stars in the sky” (although the Bayers would probably say it was anything but random that they found this material). The room is furnished with a finely carved wooden table, and a real sheepskin lies on a bench.The stairwell in the tower is a thing of beauty, hand-painted by Malherbe to represent the Tree of Life as well as the fruits, flora and fauna of the land. The pillar is decorated with papier mâché for the relief depiction of grapes. (“I think they were made from toilet paper covered in plaster,” confides Cindy.) The chandelier at the top of the stairwell is made from shofarot and is meant to tell yet another biblical tale: the Binding of Isaac.‘ABRAHAM’S TENT,’ a gathering space that can convert into a guest bedroom.Cindy’s explanation for the unusual design is thus: “I prayed and asked the Lord, and that’s what we came up with.”The main bedroom is a romantic affair, with an iron-framed four-poster bed bedecked with gauzy blue and pale yellow floral fabrics.“We envisaged it almost as a huppa or a tallit [prayer shawl], and again we were able to use fabric we brought from our previous home in the States,” they say. The heavy oak door to the room is another important talking point; it originally came from the Armenian Catholic church in Jerusalem’s Old City and had been thrown in the trash.“We just picked it up and restored it,” they say.Yet another room is the “gathering kitchen,” where guests help with food preparation, and grilling takes place outside with a view of the Golan and Mount Tabor in the distance.“We believe a home should be a sanctuary, a safe place, a place that welcomes people and embraces them,” say the Bayers.
Related TagsKinneret
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store