This Tualatin builder has learned to think inside the box
A classical feng shui class changed developer Jerry Reeves’ approach to his business
Jon House / Times Newspapers
Developer Jerry Reeves settles back into the prototype of his Chi Sleeper — one of his new line of Chi products.
When the economy started going south and the housing market tanked, Tualatin builder Jerry Reeves had a lot of time on his hands – so he headed south himself.
“I went down to San Francisco, to the Golden Gate School of Feng Shui, and I learned classical feng shui,” Reeves said.
Reeves, 57, a licensed structural engineer, developer, and real estate broker, has been building high-end homes in the Portland area for nearly 40 years. But he says he has always been interested in learning new things, and feng shui – the Chinese philosophy of arranging work and living spaces to promote comfort, peace and balance in a person’s life – fit in perfectly with the way he has always approached building.
“In San Francisco I studied classical feng shui through about nine months of curriculum. I got my certification in that and, along the way, got a holistic practioners license,” Reeves said.
His training got him to thinking – and his thinking led him in a whole new direction. In his words, he reinvented himself and his company.
“I thought, ‘What is the new builder going to look like?’” Reeves said. “I have always liked to build natural homes, so all of the stuff I had been learning – Chinese medicine and understanding essential oils and all the rest of that stuff – fed into the way I had actually been building forever.”
The result was a new line of what he calls Chi Builders – “The world’s first whole body optimizing system.”
First – the dog house
He started out pretty basic. He came up with a new concept for sleeping quarters – for dogs.
“I began thinking about things to help with health, and what was missing in our society,” Reeves said. “And I came up with the dog sleepers.” And he built one for his dog, Max.
The shape of the dog sleeping structure, which Reeves calls the “Dogua,” is octagonal (“sacred” geometrical proportions, says Reeves; a shape that “promotes the building of chi, or the energy that vitalizes all things”) and the wood is FSC certified cedar (wood “based on wisdom,” which “provides protection against bugs and has anti-microbial properties”).
Reeves designed the dog house like a puzzle, so all the pieces fit together without nails, screws or glue, is structurally sound and can be taken apart and set up again in 10 minutes.
And the sleeper fits in with living room décor, acting as an end table.
“It’s like a cave for your dog – helps them get out of the light,” Reeves says, as his dog Max settles in and observes us from his sanctuary. “They love it because they feel they’re part of the group. If they aren’t there, where are they at? They’re kind of laying in a corner, doing whatever, but they’re not relaxed.”
Then Reeves began to think about sleeping quarters for people, and developed Chi Sleepers. They are built with the same method and materials as the dog sleepers – octagonal, cedar and no glue, screws or nails – but they have a door on them so you can be totally enclosed in your sleeping space.
“It’s like having your own little cabin within the home,” Reeves said.
In his literature about the Chi Sleepers, Reeves says it “creates a secluded space apart from any activity … In the Chi Sleeper all you’ll do is sleep, so the subconscious will understand when you get inside to begin the process of shutting down the mind and waking biological processes, inviting sleep to overcome you effortlessly.”
The special mattress, he said, is made of biodegradable, 100 percent natural rubber latex with no synthetic ingredients or fillers.
“If you just lay back in it, it just really feels good when you’re in there,” Reeves said.
Turn up the power
Finally, Reeves came up with the Chi Builder – a “total body optimizer” – which Reeves has been developing for the past year.
He is careful not to make any medical claims about the Chi Builders, and his literature is full of disclaimers and warnings – “It is every individual’s responsibility to get approval from their doctor before using the Chi Builder…” – but Reeves does say it’s done wonders for him.
He claims that he has dropped 40 pounds – including a pot-belly he was never able to get rid of before – says he can eat anything he wants, psoriasis he had for years has almost completely cleared up and his blood pressure is perfect.
The Chi Builder is constructed from the same FSC cedar and built to the same “sacred” dimensions and methods as his other Chi items, but is designed for a whole different purpose. It is lined with FAR infrared panels, comes with a rebounder on the floor, LED multi-colored lights in the ceiling, a surround sound audio system and optional flat-screen television monitor.
For the basic model, at $34,000, it’s top-of-the-line Chi at its best – Far-East philosophy meets high-tech.
With new age music pulsing through the speakers, Reeves climbs in the Chi Builder – heated to about 135 degrees by the FAR infrared – and begins gently jumping on the rebounder.
“With the lights, the sound, the shape, the infrared, the gravity from the rebounder – when you put everything together, it just balances you out,” Reeves said. “It’s a great way to lose weight, detoxify and relax, and it’s fun – in fact it’s a bit addicting.”
And, coming full circle, Reeves said the Chi Builder has even made his dog Max – who spends some time in it with Reeves – a healthier dog.
“And he loves it,” Reeves said.
After a year of developing the Chi Builders, Reeves says he just now feels confident enough to put them on the market. In fact, he said he has already sold two of them.
And Reeves says, the Chi Builder is just the start of a line of Chi Builder, LLC products.
“There are some other ideas with this shape I’m going to be taking down the road,” Reeves said. “We will have a whole system in place for adding some more health products to that line.”
For more information about Reeves’ Chi products, go to www.chibuilder.com, or call 503-969-2600.