A Tempest Over Trees : Frustrated Home Sellers Cut Back Oak to Avoid Bad Luck
Peter Kao and his wife loved the massive 100-year-old oak tree that stood on their Sierra Madre lawn in front of their main door. They even planted some more trees on the city’s parkway, the green strip along the curb.
But last week, after two years of unsuccessfully trying to sell the regal hillside home, they decided to cut back the three-story oak to a few branches and removed four trees on the parkway, incurring the wrath of neighbors and the city’s tree preservation commissioners.
From the Kaos’ perspective, it was a matter of financial prudence, born of the need to attract Chinese buyers who respect a centuries-old Chinese mystical craft called feng shui . Among other things, feng shui holds that the presence of a tree or post in front of a door blocks the cosmic forces of good luck and wealth from flowing into a home.
“They are tree lovers but you can’t ignore a 5,000-year-old Chinese tradition in the San Gabriel Valley,” said David Lee of Baldwin Realtors, who is managing the sale of the property in 300 block of Grove Street. “Ninety percent of buyers in the west San Gabriel Valley are Chinese for (higher-priced) homes like this one.”
After failing to attract buyers with a price cut from $449,000 to $399,000, the Kaos decided it was necessary to prune the oak drastically to let the spirits through, said Lee, speaking on behalf of the owners.
Sierra Madre officials said they respect the ancient belief, but that tree preservation is another matter. The property owners violated city law by cutting down the parkway trees on public property.
Although it is legal to cut trees on private property, cutting back the oak has caused resentment among neighbors.
“Look, if I went to China, I’d respect the customs there. If I come into a small neighborhood and trees are very important, I don’t cut down the trees,” said Lew Watanabe, chairman of the city’s Tree Preservation Commission.
Watanabe said the property owners will have to put at least two trees back in the parkway; he has offered to help get another substantial tree for the lawn area that can be placed out of the door’s way.
But if more homeowners decide to cut down trees for any reason without consulting neighbors or the city, he said, Sierra Madre may be forced to enact an ordinance affecting private property as well.
City officials say that in recent months they have seen a spate of tree removals, all near doors.
Feng shui , which means “wind and water,” is based on the belief that man-made constructions such as buildings and roads must be placed in a certain harmony with nature to ensure good fortune and to prevent disaster.
The direction a building faces, furniture placement, street locations, birth dates and burial grounds of ancestors play important roles in directing spiritual forces that allow good luck and wealth to flow into a building, according to feng shui . Trees and stairways can block the forces and evil will head for a building at a dead end.
Perhaps the most conspicuous local example of a building constructed to feng shui specifications is in Alhambra, at Valley and Atlantic boulevards. There, Raymond Cheng, president of Hannon Development Inc., consulted with a feng shui practitioner before putting his two-story office building at a slight angle to the corner.
The facade is angled like a jagged saw blade to ensure that every door faces exactly south. No doors face east or west because the feng shui practitioner warned they would be unlucky.
Scott Lee, Alhambra’s principal planner, said he sees many plans for homes that incorporate feng shui principles involving the placement of the building, its doors and the rooms within.
“Generally, we’ve been able to accommodate the cultural needs,” he said.
The city formerly put street lights in front of store doors. But after complaints from Chinese store owners who said the poles were damaging their business because of bad feng shui , the city in recent years has been placing the poles out of the direct line of doorways.
