An American Vedic Home
In Fairfield, Iowa, a simple, healthy home built according to the principles of Maharishi Sthapatya Veda brings healing and peace.
September/October 2000
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence
On the heels of his divorce late in 1997, Peter Lamoureux sought a safe, nurturing haven where he and his two daughters, Gabrielle and Paris, could heal. A practitioner of Transcendental Meditation (TM) and a follower of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who brought TM and other ancient spiritual practices to the West, Peter was naturally drawn to the discipline of Maharishi Sthapatya Veda because it claims to promote health, good fortune, and higher states of consciousness through the orientation, proportion, and placement of buildings. But he wasn’t completely convinced.
RELATED CONTENT
Healthy, slow-cooked, early American dishes....
Built with the philosophy of harmony and balance, this home can rightfully be called a straw bale m...
Appreciation for the front porch, the home's connection to the community, is back. Whether your hom...
This campaign emphasizes the importance of trails in American heritage....
"When I started doing TM thirty years ago, there were volumes of scientific research about its effectiveness,’’ Peter says. "But Maharishi Sthapatya Veda architecture I had to take on faith.’’
Fairfield, Iowa, a farming community that has been home to the Maharishi University of Management and thousands of the Indian guru’s followers (who refer to themselves as "meditators’’) since 1973, was already the site of several houses built according to Maharishi Sthapatya Veda principles when Peter began designing his house. Most of the other houses, built by moneyed pilgrims from the East and West Coasts, are large, ornate, and highly designed odd sights amid the corn silos and the classic white farmhouses indigenous to the rolling Iowa countryside. By contrast, Peter wanted his house to sit comfortably and blend easily with the greens and browns of the soybean and cornfields surrounding the five-acre alfalfa field he selected as a homesite. Duncan MacMaster, a Fairfield builder with whom Peter had taught TM in Providence, Rhode Island, was able to bring all his dreams to life.
Check out the Sep/Oct 2000 issue of Natural Home for beautiful images and more details about this healthy, simple home.