Welcome

I had a rustic retreat when I was a kid. Growing up in Chicago, that rustic retreat was called Wisconsin, the place where most urban Midwesterners retreated during the summer.

Back then, everything in Wisconsin was pretty rustic—vacation homes, hotels and rental cottages. My family's rustic retreat was spending July on the wooded shores of Manitowish Lake in a cottage that had probably seen the sunny side of the 1940s. The beds creaked, the linoleum was cracked and the screen door never quite shut, but we had fun. As kids, our days were spent swimming, boating and fishing, if not trying to schmooze other kids whose parents had ski boats. By night, as the parents had cocktails on the long wooden docks, we chased fireflies and told ghost stories.

A generation later, our idea of "rustic retreat" has evolved, shall we say. We want our woods, water and fireflies to come with a bit of luxury and style. In this issue, we're taking a look at some of today's rustic retreats created by design professionals from our Western region: an upscale cabin resort in Arizona's White Mountains; a wine silo that's the latest addition to a vacation compound outside Jackson, Wyoming; and, back in my youthful neck of the woods, a lakeside spa in Wisconsin. There are no crooked screen doors in any of these elegant projects, but the delight of being in the midst of natural surroundings is still the same.

Heather Kinkade-Levario is also keenly aware of natural surroundings, particularly our very dry Western surroundings. The Arizona landscape architect is a proponent of rainwater catchment, and her first book, Forgotten Rain: Rediscovering Rainwater Harvesting, won a national ASLA award in 2006. Her latest book, Design for Water, is out this spring. Read about her in our "Wide Open Spaces" column.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Durette Candito is in the midst of some rather unnatural surroundings, having set up her Durette Studio in the midst of downtown Las Vegas, next door to an adult movie theater. Nonetheless, customers come from far and wide to check out her showroom's beautifully crafted door hardware. She's this issue's "Hidden Treasures."

By the time you read this, we'll likely be in Denver for the Rocky Mountain Designers' Market, two days of seminars, receptions, workshops and presentations at the Denver Design District aimed squarely at interior designers and architects. If you missed this year's market, plan ahead for next year. It's a great event for learning and networking.

Photograph by Elliot Lincis