Arno Grether did not shoot that buffalo. "It was struck by lightning in Nebraska," says the peaceable Pasadena native, who hung the beast's skull on the back porch of his 1906 Craftsman home. Another souvenir of the Wild West, the horseshoe embedded in his front drive, is not only for good luck but also sort of a signature for Grether, who raises thoroughbreds. It's no surprise then that the inside of Grether's homestead looks like a tableau from the Autry. But, whoa, what's that twig table doing by the Arts and Crafts stained-glass window? And isn't that an Oriental rug and Asian coffee table at the foot of the burl wood sofa?
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A New Frontier
As the Western style makes a comeback, designers have stayed true to its rugged cowboy roots. But keep a lookout for lots of modern touches too.
DESIGN
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Welcome to a new frontier: 21st century Western, an old style of decor that is newly popular. With a look that embraces traditional cowboys-and-Indians iconography along with East Coast rusticity, Old California influences and modern proportions, Western is primed for a remake. Steeped in screen history, but miles away from Hopalong Cassidy's hacienda or J.R. Ewing's glitzy Dallas compound, the new down-home is growing up to accommodate a world of tastes.
"You can have willow Adirondack furniture and Middle East textiles like kilims" in the new Western interior, says Su Bacon, Grether's decorator. For an Altadena client, Bacon put wicker and New Guinea art in front of an adobe fireplace. Even die-hard urban modernists warm up to contemporary furniture with cowboy detailing, such as New York designer Thomas O'Brien's saddle-blanket upholstered Leo chair for Hickory Chair of North Carolina.
Traditional decorators are also back in the saddle-stitched style.
"I just covered a fully upholstered English loveseat in cowhide, which always looks chic," says Joe Nye, a Los Angeles interior designer. "I'm ready to put leather fringe on my sports jackets."
As with many home design movements, pop culture helped blaze the trail. In 2000, three home decor books, "Rancho Deluxe," "Cowboy Chic" and "Monterey," helped a new generation rediscover ranch architecture, Western furniture and the pre-World War II Spanish Revival in Los Angeles. As horse operas returned to the screen -- both big ("The Alamo") and small ("Deadwood") -- this year, cowboy hats and snap-front Western shirts once again made the trip from runways to retail. Gucci and Polo featured tooled and leather jackets, and Vogue photographed a pony skin clutch hanging from a horned skull.
