The Story Behind the Pictures

ARIZONA RANCH ESTATE

A lifetime accumulation of mementos, family history, antiques and collectibles needed to be incorporated in this Arizona farmhouse. The clients, moving from an aging house they had lived in for 50 years, wanted their new home to look as if it had always been there–and as if they had always lived there. To capture the character and feeling of their old family estate we used a variety of traditional materials including reclaimed wood, natural stone, velvet, embossed leathers, fringes, and braids, applique, needlepoint rugs, antiqued metals, brick, class columns and arches, and soft draperies. After recovering and restoring existing pieces, supplementing with reproduction furnishings, and providing plenty of space for mementos and collectibles, the new interior design is now reminiscent of a previous era.

The vaulted gallery hall, supported by columns and soaring to a turret, is home to many of the display cabinets featuring the client’s collectibles and family treasures. The hall itself features clerestory windows that provide air circulation (electrically operated, either with a timer or manual override) as well as natural light which floods into the center of the home. The hall’s barrel-vault ceiling features hand-applied half-bricks.

We worked closely with the homeowners on the residential interior design details emphasizing the vintage theme. On the floor is reclaimed oak from a barn in Tennessee, circa 1876. In the great room, and continuing onto the patio in the back, are tumbled travertine pavers. Tile in the kitchen and bathrooms contribute the style as well. The needlepoint carpeting and rugs recall an earlier era. Throughout the home decorative aged walls with Venetian plaster and faux finishing. For an additional aged effect, the beams in the great room and master bedroom are hand hewn and carved.

As this is an heirloom home, the couple told us they wanted to include as much of their existing furniture as possible. New furnishings were carefully selected so that they blended well with the existing pieces. Our goal was that it would be difficult to tell which pieces were new, which ones were existing, and which ones were antiques. We also clustered the small scaled antiques to create a stronger presence.

In the end their “new” interior design commemorates their pioneer family heritage while serving their contemporary needs.”

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