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Asian eclectic

Lavish home showcases

a lifetime of collecting

MARGIE Gomez has been collecting antiques since she was a girl in the Philippines. Her house holds an assemblage of antiques from all over Asia. Vietnamese frames hold pictures chronicling the lives of her family. Egyptian lamps hang celestially from a corner of the vaulted living room. Solid wood furniture is ubiquitous.

"It's our lifetime collection," Gomez says, smiling.

Over a decade has passed since Gomez moved to Phnom Penh, and many of the shops and antique houses she used to frequent are gone.

"A lot of the foreigners, especially throughout those early years, started bringing out all the antique furniture by the container loads - by the container loads! And now most are gone and what are left are expensive."

The Gomez house was built in 2004 and designed to follow the principles of feng shui. A sense of balance and harmony runs throughout, and the natural sunlight and airy spaces complement Gomez's fantastic lifetime of collected antiques.

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MELANIE BREW/PHOTOS HENG CHIVOAN