February 10, 2025

Architectural Concepts Guide

Elevating Home Design Standards

How To Design A Western Workspace, According To Designers

How To Design A Western Workspace, According To Designers

Talented Western designers invite you to tour extra-special rooms and hobby spaces that are a winning combination of their clients’ passions and pride of place.

Creating the perfect Western space is just a few steps away. We talked to some of the top Western interior designers who have created some of the most high-end lounge spaces.


Smoke Show

Even though Steve Courter had to wait for his children to grow up and move out of his Austin, Texas, home to get a mancave of his very own, all that time turned out to be a plus. After all, he had years to figure out exactly what it should look like. Once the coast was clear, he called dibs on a catchall storage space, and then he called Lyndsey Gauthier of CG&S Design-Build to help make his vision a reality. “From the beginning, Steve knew the aesthetic he wanted. He described it as a Mad Men-style work-and-lounge space,” says the designer.

Swipe through to get a peek at the smoke show.

How To Design A Western Workspace, According To Designers

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With that in mind, Gauthier set about creating a spot where Don Draper would feel right at home mixing up an Old Fashioned. She took the space down to the drywall and layered in rich cherrywood paneling and built-ins, a green textured wallpaper, and a Verde Alpi fireplace façade. She also carved out room for a brand-new bar and finished the space with a large television, masculine furnishings, and some of the homeowner’s most prized mementos, including a humidor he’s held on to for decades. Now it’s an ideal place for Courter to cheer on the Longhorns, work at his desk, and enjoy things from his past, all while puffing on a cigar — and he can do it without disturbing anyone else in the house. Unlike the offices at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, this one benefits from the installation of an exhaust fan.


Bar Rescue

A couple in Cody, Wyoming, knows exactly how the West was won — with a brand-new getaway on Heart Mountain that includes an authentic, turn-of-the-century saloon. The homeowners stumbled upon the 24-foot-long, 1890s mahogany bar in downtown Billings, Montana, not far from the offices of their designer Jeremiah Young of Kibler & Kirch. “It was missing a few pieces and parts, but they were all faithfully remade by Wilson Cabinetry in Billings, and everything now blends perfectly,” says Young.

The bar runs the entire length of one side of the room, and it has inspired every single element in the room as a result. “Once you have a great bar, you have to have a stage,” advises Young. This one is outfitted with curtains and old-fashioned footlights. Other special surprises include a giant set of brass doors, reproduction period chandeliers, red-velvet damask wallpaper (“It’s shockingly vibrant, but in the low light of the saloon, it’s everything you need it to be,” Young says.), pressed-tin ceilings, Persian carpets, old-school billiards, and plenty of room for dancing and sipping. All of that — plus the fact that a kitchen area behind the bar complete with a dumbwaiter so salty snacks can shipped down from the main kitchen — makes for a Western experience that guests don’t want to quit. “The homeowners are such gracious and generous hosts, and everything in there is the real deal,” says Young.


Sip & Slide

A slide isn’t typically on people’s lists of must-haves when they’re planning to build a vacation home in the upscale Big Sky, Montana, Yellowstone Club community. But nothing about this home designed by Daryl Nourse at Reid Smith Architects is typical. The slide’s black-patinaed finish is a natural fit with the home’s steel beams, fieldstone walls, and reclaimed wood finishes. It also pairs surprisingly well with the sophisticated interiors designed by Rush Jenkins and Sabrina Schreibeis of WRJ Design. It winds its way down from an office located at the top of the house; all the way down through a ski room and this secret wine space, which is accessible through a revolving bookcase; and then on down to the rec room.

The slide’s black-patinated finish is a natural fit with the home’s steel beams, fieldstone walls, and reclaimed wood finishes.

The tasting room may be hidden, but it’s probably the worst-kept secret in all of Montana. After all, who could keep to themselves the experience of taking a slide or using a secret door to access a room outfitted with rustic rock walls, a brick ceiling, finely crafted millwork, some carefully curated antiques, and an incredible wine collection? “This family wanted a home in the mountains that’s very different from their primary residence,” says Jenkins. “The rich materials, finishes, and fabrics mix with fun features like secret passageways and hidden lofts to create a winter wonderland that’s full of whimsey and magic.”


High Art

Bellying up to the bar isn’t the only thing to do in Cody. One homeowner has devoted a top-floor space to another one of his passions. “He has a great collection of museum-quality art, and Western art is part of what drew him to Wyoming,” says Billings-based interior designer Jeremiah Young of Kibler & Kirch. “He has great taste and an array of pieces by both living and deceased artists hang throughout the home.”

Being surrounded by great works of art inspired Young’s client to take up painting himself in his personal studio. Windows and large doors leading to the patio provide the aerie with plenty of natural light and unparalleled views of Heart Mountain. “When you open the doors, you’re instantly connected with nature,” Young says. But natural elements abound inside, too. The center part of the house is held up by these giant columns of redwood trees — they span from the basement, through the main level, up through here.

It’s a totally functional room, and it’s ever evolving, but it needs to remain light and airy. He moves from painting to painting, and sometimes, he might even enjoy a cigar as he moves from here to there. — Jeremiah Young, Kibler & Kirch

The room is furnished with some of the homeowner’s favorite works — pieces he sees as inspiration — and a few easels and chairs where he can get down to business on his original art. Little else was needed for the space. “It’s a totally functional room, and it’s ever evolving, but it needs to remain light and airy,” says the designer. “He moves from painting to painting, and sometimes, he might even enjoy a cigar as he moves from here to there.”


From our February/March 2025 issue.

PHOTOGRAPHY: Main Property: Ryan Davis/Courtesy CG&S Design-Build; Secondary Property: Courtesy Kibler & Kirch and WRJ Design


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