I've been working on a fabulous old Tahoe house for several
years now. The house, located on Tahoe's west shore, was built around 1880 and
because there was no other available mode of transportation at the time, all the
materials needed to build it were put on a barge in Tahoe City and floated down
the lake to the site's location.
My client is working to restore the house back to it's original
English Arts and Crafts roots. The house has a fascinating history and over the
years has hosted presidents, governors and even Mark Twain.
Anyway, working on this house has me thinking about how rustic
design has changed over the years.
This is an interior photo from Tahoe's Ehrman Mansion. Also
built in the late 19th century, the Ehrman mansion was a large luxury mansion
with huge porches, outbuildings, and impressively large sloping lawns down to the lake.
As you can see in the photo, its surface finishes are refined and elaborate
with carved Victorian wood trim details.
Above, is a photo of the main lobby of the Awahnee hotel in
Yosemite, built in 1927. I think that the Awahnee is truly the most beautiful
rustic interior ever created. Native American references are elegantly mixed with Arts and Crafts and Moorish patterns throughout. In this room, the ceiling is coffered, the beams painted with
Indian motifs. The windows are stunning with Arts and Crafts inspired stained glass and leaded panes.
The scale and proportions at this hotel are monumental and elegant, and yet
rusticity and casual comfort are important elements, too.
Just look at this jaw-dropping ceiling treatment, full-height
windows and stone walls in the Awahnee's dining room. Beautiful.
And one of my absolute favorite details at the Awahnee is this
amazing floor from the check-in area. This was made entirely out of colored
linoleum!!
During the 30's and 40's, cabins were kitted out with pine
interiors...knotty pine on the walls and ceilings, pine beams and even pine
flooring. It was a lot of wood but the best examples were treated with coat
after coat of orange shellac which created a beautiful candle-light glow at
night. They are cozy and warm in the winter and cool and dark on warm summer
days.
On the other end of the luxury scale we have the affordable
A-frame cabin which surged in popularity just after World War II.
Then came the period that haunts me today...the orange shag
carpeting, matching formica kitchen counters and black stained beams popular in
the 60's and 70's! I can't tell you how
many times I've been asked how to get rid of black stain on beams.
And today? We still love lots of natural wood, rock and stone,
soaring heights, huge fireplaces and wood floors. Many of today's rustic
interiors are still greatly influenced by the Awahnee's grandly elegant but
rustic American Indian-influenced style, above.
Or are they? No one knows where the future is going, but the
influences of green design and natural materials are pulling us in new
directions. Is this just a trend that will someday be compareable to the orange
shag and black beams of the 60's? We shall see.
