Arts Feature: Artistic Refuge

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Artistic Refuge

Beginning with an extensive, hand-picked collection of exclusively regional art, interior designer Eric Brown has created a relaxed and cultured greenville home for TD Bank executive Tim Hockey and his family when they are in town from Toronto. Overlooking Cleveland Park and filled with landscapes, abstracts, and sculpture, the two-bedroom condo’s colors and textures echo the art collection. Original artwork, with the latest technology and comfortable furnishings, makes this home a truly carefree downtown getaway.

On the Money

For Tim Hockey and his wife, Lana, the adage “wherever you go, there you are” has perhaps never rung so true. Before TD Bank ever considered Greenville, Hockey, CEO of TD’s Canadian bank, knew he wanted to live here. An avid cyclist, his first encounter with our area came a couple of years ago via pro-cycling champion and Greenville resident George Hincapie. As a member of philanthropic team Les Domestiques, Hockey came down for a riding weekend with Hincapie in November 2008.

The two hit it off, and nearly a year later in August 2009, the Hockeys were invited, along with seventeen other Canadian couples, for a weekend in Greenville that happened to coincide with the U.S.A. Professional Cycling Championships. It was love at first bike. The Hockeys decided to make Greenville their vacation spot and purchased this condominium in Cleveland Park.

In an ironic turn, Hockey’s bank (where he’s worked for twenty-seven years, having started as a part-time teller) liked the appeal of Greenville, too, and subsequently made a bid to purchase Southern Financial, parent company of Carolina First. “It was a pleasant coincidence. That’s the irony of the whole thing,” notes a bemused Hockey. “This was to be my escape.”

“I think that TD coming here is a good deal for the town, and I’m saying that as now a citizen of Greenville. The fact that I live here means that I care a lot about what our brand and reputation will be in this town,” Hockey says.

But the Toronto residents make it clear that they will not be stepping on the toes of TD’s U.S. management. As they relax into their plush, earthy furniture, both casually clad in summer shorts and shirts, they ooze the sort of laid-back mien that comes only from time off. Even their Jack Russell, Jynx, is in on the low-key lounging, exposing his belly at full bend for Lana to scratch.

The active parents of two teenaged boys, all of whom love to travel, play hockey, snowboard, and ski, it’s likely that the Hockeys will appreciate more than just the cycling and restaurants here—there’s of course a world of hiking, water sports, camping, and shopping to explore, not to mention the arts, which the Hockeys have already integrated into their new home. “Tim and I have very different taste in art,” notes Lana, though it appears they both share a healthy desire for it. Lana confesses, “The hardest part about coming down here, for me, is that we’ve met so many people. The people here are amazing; everyone is so friendly,” which makes it challenging, she says, to get out of Greenville and see the area’s bounty.

But, with their home away from home, the Hockeys are likely to find time to escape.