A home on the waterfront in Ocean Gardens is a peaceful green refuge and a place for rejuvenation. Arriving at Timm Garceau’s home in Ocean Gardens, one’s first impression is that of orderliness and home comfort. Lit scented candles of coconut and vanilla, bergamot, Cuban tobacco and Ylang Ylang. Vases of fresh flowers, charming little plant arrangements. Faint strains of jazz playing in the background. A clean, uncluttered space of simple elegance, an oasis of calm on the water’s edge of this bustling, busy city. 
The layout of this 1,800 square foot apartment leads the visitor from entrance hallway into a living dining area, to the left a sensibly sized kitchen with laundry area and small bathroom, to the right a semi circle balcony looking out over the flat grey-blue waters and mud flats of the sound between Taipa and HengQin island and the vibrant activity of break-neck construction going on 24/7 on HengQin. Through a doorway is another hall off which are 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms.
In the dining room, two grey lamps, a modern artwork in grey, white and black, and the grey curtains, give a sophisticated balance to the rich splash of orange from the feature wall. This vibrant colour is picked up and reflected in the orange table and custom made seat cushion on the balcony.
An L shaped sofa in the living room is covered in fur throws of fox, beaver and lusciously velvet-soft sheared beaver. The rich browns match perfectly with the TV consul and the wood flooring, lightened with the white of thick sheepskins underfoot that one’s feet sink into luxuriously.
The colour palate of the home is predominantly soft earth tones – browns, tans, oatmeal, white, greys – “Because that’s what I work with, the earth”, Timm explains. His job here in Macau for the past almost 2 years is that of Director of Landscape for Wynn Palace.
“I was born and raised in Michigan in the US, and I went to college in California where I studied business and fashion. Ever since I was a kid I’ve been interested in art, but starving artists can’t make money !” Timm smiles. Opportunity presented itself when he first visited Las Vegas during the boom when large areas of desert wasteland was literally being turned green through extensive landscaping. He remembers standing on a hill and looking down into the valley where huge rolls of grass sod were being rolled out. “I saw the earth as a canvass and it was like a paintbrush washing green swathes over the landscape. From then on landscaping got into my blood, and I saw it as another medium to my art.
Timm joined a landscaping business and decided to learn as much as he could about the business. “I asked questions, I listened … to all the experts, arborists, architects. It became my passion to learn everything. I didn’t go to college for it but found that real life was the best way to learn.” This fast tracked him into landscaping companies, one of which was Valley Crest who had the contract for one of the Wynn resorts. From here he was headhunted to work directly for Wynn Las Vegas and Encore. Then came Wynn’s entry into the Macau market – “they didn’t need me for Wynn Macau as the landscaping areas were so small, but the new Wynn Palace is another matter all together.”
As Timm explains, the resort will cover 52 acres, and phase one alone has 7.5 acres (326,000 sq ft) of landscaping and 6 acres (261,000 sq ft of hardscape). It’s a huge planning and logistical undertaking with over 3,000 trees and palms and almost half a million shrubs coming in from Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Hainan Island, Singapore and China. “There will be 28 varieties of trees, 31 varieties of palms, 70 varieties of shrubs. The tallest tree arriving, a Ficus, is going to be 12 meters tall and 6 meters wide. We’re importing 30,000 cubic yards (810,000 cubic feet) of planting soil. Also included in the project is an irrigation and a fertilizer injector system making things easier for ongoing maintenance.”
Clearly Timm has a deep respect for his boss Steve Wynn; in the early days of working for him Mr Wynn took Timm aside and described how landscaping touches all one’s senses. “Mr Wynn really appreciates the value of landscaping – what it does to your psyche, the smells, sights, sounds of beautiful gardens, and he wants visitors to his resort to fully enjoy their total experience. And this is what will be achieved at Wynn Palace.” What about at night? “Ah, we have a great lighting team who are really on top of things …. I hide their work in the day and they make my work look great at night!” Tim chuckles. 
And so in understanding the man, one can start to understand his home; Timm’s home is his sanctuary from a frenetic job which involves regular trips out of Macau to source and select the right plants. When home he retreats to his art room, converted from one of the guest bedrooms, to follow his first love – drawing. He’s self taught an
d from a very early age he’s been fascinated with drawing eyes. “The eyes are the window to the soul” he exclaims. He works with pencils, charcoal and with his fingers. On display are drawings of the eye of a lion, an elephant, a zebra, and the blue eye of a white tiger.
Working on several different series – Native American, children, family, animals – some of Timm’s drawings are in large paper sketch books, others are on pieces of animal hide, that he then burns with a specialist electric wire torch along several lines giving the pieces further depth especially when held up to the light. Other canvases for his work are pieces of wood planks and wooden plates. “I source most of my materials on line from Ebay as there’s no art stores I can find in Macau, though there are a couple in Hong Kong”
Next to his art room is the spacious guest bathroom and second guest room that doubles up as his study room, with a burned orange day bed, with a beaver fur throw. A book case and oversized desk are in chocolate brown, the walls are painted in oatmeal and sash curtains are pale caramel.
Across the hall is the master bedroom and ensuite bathroom. The bed is super high, made up of two king size mattresses on top of each other. One of the famously comfortable Wynn mattresses sits on top of the mattress and box spring of the bed provided by the property owner. “I love it so high; lying in bed I have a great view out of the window across the harbor to the Macau Tower!” More earth tones in the curtains, walls and beautiful silky coffee coloured quilt with design of leaves in pale cream flecked in gold as the sun streams through the window.
The piece de resistance to the apartment it has to be said is the balcony where Timm has growing a garden of his own; blooming hyacinths for their smell, two different types of orchids, gardenias, jasmine, hydrangea, birds nest ferns, Kentia palms and the deep red leafed Colueus plant.
“Everything is real!” he is keen to point out. “Plants are living things and they rejuvenate the spirit”. Often when the weather is fine he will bring his easel out and draw. Companion Cindy Liu will join him, and the two will sit contentedly enjoying the open air and stunning views together.
Photographs were taken by Antonio Mil-Homes, exclusively for Macau Closer magazine
