Green Gables-style homes a hit in Japan

A P.E.I. company is helping some Japanese families realize their dreams of living in an Anne of Green Gables replica home.

Tourism from Japan has long been a mainstay of the industry on P.E.I., with fans of author L. M. Montgomery making the pilgrimage to Cavendish to see the home that inspired her world-famous novel.

For some families, however, a trip to see Green Gables isn't enough. A Japanese company called Maple Homes is offering a Green Gables-style home people can make their own. The flooring for those homes comes from the Island company Royalty Hardwoods.

"There's a long term connection with the Japanese, especially the younger ladies and Anne of Green Gables," said company owner Martinus Rose.

"They're, I guess, making that to their advantage  where they're building these farm-style homes, and we're supplying the plank flooring to go in those homes."

Royalty Hardwoods sales and marketing manager Wallace Rose said Maple Homes pays close attention to detail, inside and out.

"They have the green shutters, the gable roofs, white-picket fences a lot of the times," he said.

"From the outside they look very authentic, and the same thing from the inside. The Japanese customer who wants an Anne replica home wants an authentic home. So they want the wide-plank flooring, which we supply to them."

The builder will sometimes distress the new flooring provided by Royalty Hardwoods to make it look like it was installed early in the last century.

Royalty Hardwoods has been sending flooring to Maple Homes since 2000. The company normally ships enough supplies for 50 homes a year.