The spectacular hillside view from Heather McKay’s Los Flores Canyon reflective glass home shows the panoramic Malibu Pacific Ocean coastline.
A geometrically shaped, avant-garde steel structure resembling a spaceship, McKay’s home is a 3,500 square foot masterpiece designed by Malibu architect Ed Niles, practical enough to withstand fire and earthquake.
One of Malibu’s most unique houses, it’s as multifaceted as its landlord, Emmy-nominated and multiaward winner McKay, who is consistently creating and presently evolving as a poet and cookbook author.
McKay, who originates from Vancouver, B.C., geared her early talents toward writing, yet seized an opportunity in broadcast engineering, which brought her success–two Golden Mike awards and accolades in TV production, documentary and music editing.
Happy childhood memories of living by the sea in Canada brought her to Malibu 11 years ago, where she lived in her large cedar-sided house until the devastating 1993 Malibu fire destroyed everything. McKay escaped safely with only her pets.
Just as the Phoenix, who perished in flames, resurrected to begin again, McKay focused on rebuilding her life and her canyon wildfire home. Now, massive caissons sink more than 40 feet into the bedrock for stability, while remnants of the former home appear strategically. She calls her glass-walled house “a living piece of art.”
Today this amazing glass and steel house has attracted architectural magazines, photo shoot locations for fashion layouts and music videos. This week it was featured on Home and Garden Television’s Extreme Homes series.
Reflecting on her previous home, career and lifestyle, her poems maintain a connection with life’s possibilities:
Whenever we turn away from one-another,
We cease to exist;
When we turn back
We flare into being,
Like matches in the dark
(from “Dreaming the Arctic”)
McKay’s evolving lifestyle led to a new relationship with food. She relates, “Life is an adventure which comes with a responsibility to enjoy it.”
Surrounding herself with creative people, friends have crowded her kitchen to savor new recipes; edible flower dishes that have enhanced many a dinner party.
Living in Malibu brings nature in focus for McKay. She knows Malibu hiking trails inside and out, collecting wild flowers to accent her latest recipes, as her mother did long ago in Canada. As recipes are passed from one kitchen to another, McKay wants to share more with her new book, “Petals on Your Plate.” She wants people to enjoy flowers in their natural environment and bring them to the kitchen with knowledge of their varieties, flavors, edible parts and preparation, as well as species that have grown along California coastlines as far back as the Chumash Indians.
“People have a misconception that flowers are like perfume,” says McKay. “Actually, many flowers taste like vegetables.”
Nasturtiums, which grow wild in Malibu canyons, taste like watercress with a peppery flavor; their edible yellow, orange-red and purple blossoms blend well with baby greens and vinaigrette dressing. McKay encourages cooking with flowers, yet warns, “Know what you are collecting and what parts are not edible.”
She says she believes experimenting is important before serving dishes with flowers. Some of her favorite dishes include yucca blossoms, lavender, roses and cattails. “You can grow your own flowers, but it isn’t necessary.” Adds McKay, in a statement epitomizing the many turns her life has taken, “There shouldn’t be any rules.”
Feeling connected and comfortable with her life today, McKay is the first to say, “I’ve learned that I’ve had a lot of challenges.”