Innholdsfortegnelse for Holiday 2014 i The Cottage Journal

Connect with us We would love to share in your joy during this magical time of year as you capture precious moments within your holiday home. Show us your holiday traditions, decorations, and seasonal favorites by tagging your social media posts with #MyHolidayCottage. This special issue is filled with homes for holiday inspiration. From designs with fresh takes on tradition to collectibles passed from one generation to the next, each home is unique in style. To fill your own festive home with wonderful scents of the season, create a classic holiday meal with the recipes provided in “Celebrating the Season” on page 91. A cozy log home and an English Tudor decorated in fresh greenery are among the homes that were a dream come true for theses families, and ones…

With just one peek in the store window, The Iron Gate will capture your imagination and tempt you to linger awhile. Since 1997, the store has been a haven for lovers of found objects, fine gifts, and exquisite linens. Owner Rozanne Jackson curates a thoughtful, authentic collection of pieces that appeal to a wide range of customers. “I am typically drawn to items that have character and a story behind them,” Rozanne says. “I also am passionate about supporting local craftsmen and offering products that are American-made.” Thanks to this creative model, inspiration abounds at The Iron Gate, especially during the holiday season. “Right after Halloween, we transform the store into a magical winter wonderland!” Rozanne says. “We try every year to inspire our customers with our holiday displays.” These…

When dressing a festive holiday table, you’ll quickly find that with a little practice your favorite seasonal accents can create a handsome statement that feels both fresh and familiar. Though they’ve been trending for nearly a decade, one of our favorite holiday accents includes beautiful white pumpkins. The ghostly white produce, when dressed appropriately, adds a layer of chic sophistication that can take your tablescape to a whole new level. Take a look at a few of our favorite scenes featuring this pretty, popular pumpkin to gather ideas for your holiday table! And remember, whether or not you find white pumpkins to be smashing this season, these tips and ideas can easily translate to your favorite holiday accents. MONOCHROMATIC White pumpkins, real or faux, can appear quite elegant when paired…

After years of working for a large publishing company—Charlie as director of landscaping and Cindy as a marketing director—the Thigpens decided to combine talents and open a garden shop in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. That was December of 2009. Charlie says his first plan was to just sell plants and garden supplies, but he soon realized not everyone was a gardener. So he and Cindy expanded the inventory to include items they felt enhanced outdoor living, thus the gallery was born. A variety of plant containers, outdoor furniture, unique gift items, and works by local artists entice shoppers on each gallery visit. “There is nothing like watching a little tiny plant turn into a flower.” —CHARLIE THIGPEN Charlie also offers landscape design for new homeowners as well as those who just…

For glass blower Luke Adams and his creative team, it’s all about timing and temperature. “You’re always balancing those things,” Luke says, noting that you have only a few minutes to work with the glass before having to reheat it. “You’re wedged between a very narrow balance—if it’s too hot, [the glass] melts into a blob, and if it’s too cold, it will crack.” The work is challenging, both physically and creatively, and nearly 50 percent or more of the pieces break before they are finished, Luke shares, but it’s a challenge he and his team proudly take on. “It’s incredibly rewarding,” the fine artist says, “to have something tangible at the end of every day.” At Luke Adams Glass Blowing Studio, located in Boston, Massachusetts, the process begins by…

HISTORICAL MEETS HANDMADE Fine art is juxtaposed alongside woodsy craftsmanship in this sideboard display. The plaster cast is a replica of a Roman relief the homeowner’s husband received as a gift while in architecture school. The angel is a handcrafted collectible sculpted of grapevine, surrounded by the owner’s holiday décor signature: metallic glass accents that capture the celebratory glow of twinkle lights. Because of her husband’s penchant for painting, this interior decorator/homeowner knew this house was ‘the one’ when they saw the artist’s studio above the garage. Thoughtfully chosen art subtly permeates the home’s simplified palette of clean neutral tones. “I prefer an eclectic style,” she says. “The mix of contemporary furniture and art in the setting of this traditional English saltbox-style home gives it a new face.” This inventive…

Fruitful Fields Gathered together, asters make a statement; combine them with crabapple branches for a snap of color. Prune back stems bearing radiant red kousa dogwood berries before they drop, and let them tumble from a woven basket. (Opposite) Truckie (the 1949 Ford restored by friend Dennis Sega) doesn’t travel far in its retirement, but it can haul around heaps of agastache and goldenrod flowers, plus some pumpkins from the local farm stand. There’s a snap in the air and a crunch underfoot, but don’t let that stop you—because a bounty awaits outdoors. Baskets full of flowers are standing by. A multitude of berries have turned rosy and plump on the shrubs. Pluck them up, and bring them close. The birds won’t mind if you stuff your pockets with some…

“W hatever you collect,” Bob Timberlake says, “it’s an indication of personality or heritage. What you collect shows that you’re conscious of your heritage—that you appreciate it.” For Bob, heritage encompasses the natural world as well as family history. “From the time I could pick up a rock or a bird’s nest or an arrowhead, I’ve been collecting,” he says. “I’ve been collecting all my life—turtle shells, marbles, toys. It’s just something that’s inside me.” The list of items that have caught his attention over the years is long and varied, but there are some common threads: appealing colors, interesting contrasts, and above all, stories. “I could conjure up stories about everything I have,” Bob says. Every item and every collection taps into a memory or is the starting point…

When these Houston natives needed an escape from the city, the charming town of Round Top, Texas, was where they found their ideal retreat. This early Texas farm-style guesthouse is conveniently located just an hour away from their favorite team’s campus, Texas A&M, and steps away from their main house—meaning during football season it operates, much to the homeowners’ delight, like a bed-and-breakfast. “We were trying to find someplace close enough to go to [Texas] A&M football games,” the homeowner shares. “When we built the guesthouse, we didn’t really know if our Aggie friends would come or not, but it has surely been—from football season up through Christmas— a gathering spot for friends and family.” Decorated with the help of designer Linda Brunson, who owns a bed-and-breakfast in town, they…

“The massive Christmas tree became a thing of the past,” Kit Sagendorf says of the segue between homes when she and her husband, Marty, left their three-story “Edward Gorey-style” Victorian for a cozy ranch just a couple of miles away. “So we cut birch branches instead.” But really, that’s the only bit that Kit and Marty downscaled when they made the move. The unapologetic Anglophiles managed to instill their modest new digs (circa1960 rather than 1860) with all the twinkling lights, greens, wreaths, crèches, and wool stockings with an orange hidden in the toe that always hang around during December. The inherent warmth, glow, and idiosyncrasies are totally intact in the new house—including all the urns, cloches, and statuary lugged home over the years from flea markets and “boot sales”…

“This is actually an adventure story,” Pamela Hardcastle says as she begins telling the saga of how her Berkshire, Massachusetts, home became bedecked in hemlock boughs for the holidays. Indeed, the tale starts with a winter’s drive down a woodsy road where Pamela noticed what most people would speed right by: a toppled hemlock tree half buried in the snow. The lifeless hemlock hero became immortalized when Pamela strapped on snowshoes to rescue and repurpose every bit of that tree. Pamela celebrates the holidays by honoring what has fallen in the forest and the field—with a whole lot of finesse tucked in. Style Idea In lieu of a cut tree, Pamela softens her plastered walls with hemlock branches salvaged from the forest. She tacks them up but also stacks them…

TERRANEA Each of the 582 guest rooms and suites, including spacious bungalows, casitas, and villas, located on the 102-acre estate feature a private balcony and a breathtaking view. The luxury resort is designed with its Mediterranean heritage in mind, offering a warm, residential feel for ultimate relaxation. Terranea is more than just a resort with an oceanfront view. Above coastal bluffs on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Terranea offers an impressive panoramic seascape. Just 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles, California, guests will feel far removed from the hustle and bustle as they look out from all three sides of the peninsula at the Pacific Ocean or explore the trails leading to breathtaking vistas from within unspoiled nature preserves. The Mediterranean heritage and natural beauty of the lush environment are incorporated…