ML Recommends
ML Recommends: May/June 2007
High-altitude food and wine, retro-chic furniture, Aspen’s newest neighborhood, and more

Montana Rustic
Lanette Harshman’s dad was in the service and she lived all over the world before settling in Montana 24 years ago. “I found my serenity on a little 10-acre farm,” she says. She opened an antique shop on Red Lodge’s five-block-long main street and called it Twice Touched. “I read somewhere that antiques are twice touched...once by those who originally owned them and then by us who love them,” she says.

She shops locally and in the East for pieces that show the right age and have character and warmth. American primitives are a great foil for the twig-and-stick pieces of the national park lodge look. “A lot of people who are building cabins in the Montana mountains love to decorate with these pieces,” she says. 

WHAT’S IN THE STORE: Mostly American, painted primitive pieces made between 1840 and 1880. “What I like most about these pieces is that they were not manufactured but each one was made by hand,” says Lanette. “When grandma needed a table or a cupboard, grandpa went out to the barn and made something for her.” You’ll also find wooden dough bowls, vintage kitchen crockery, antique quilts, weathervanes and advertising signs.

Twice Touched, 210 South Broadway, Red Lodge, MT, (406) 446-2155








A Striking Parallel
This suave, sweet and distinctive 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet’s name is symbolic of the lines carved by skis on the first run of the day and the collaboration of 10 ski buddies and famed winemaker Philippe Melka. parallelwines.com.


Utah Barn in Morning Light
Gary Ernest Smith’s paintings reflect his rural roots—farms, ranches, hard-working cowboys, fields of soy and alfalfa, big barns. His paintings are bold, lush and full of color. He paints at his studio and home in the mountains near the Bull River in Utah. For more information, contact the Overland Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ. (480) 947-1934, overlandgallery.com.


Take a Tree Home With You
Some of Marsia Holzer’s hand-crafted lamps are inspired by naturally felled trees she finds in the forest, others by driftwood she collects while kayaking. She is a sculptor as well as a furniture designer, and one informs the other. Tree floor lamp (76” tall) is available in cast aluminum with ecru parchment paper shade (right) or cast bronze with mica shade. (212) 431-9343, marsiaholzer.com.



High-Country Food
Life is Meals, by long-time Aspenites James and Kay Salter, is a tribute to the glory of food and drink and the joy of sharing them with friends. Knopf. $27.50.

The New High Altitude Cookbook is a complete guide to successful baking and cooking in the mountains. More than 400 easy recipes. Random House. $29.95.

Click here to purchase all of our favorite books.



Retro Redefined
Where do old aluminum tube chairs go once summer is over? To the studio workshop of John Paul Plauché, who creates a limited-edition redefinition of this modern icon. He mirror-polishes the frame, replaces worn webbing with hand-stitched leather and wobbly arm rests with cherry hardwood. (713) 520-8122, peelgallery.org.


Modern Cabin
Contemporary cabins have changed from the rustic structures of the past, but they are still quiet places where reflection and recreation edge out the duties of everyday life. Author Michelle Kodis presents nearly two dozen cabins from across North America. Gibbs Smith, Publisher. $39.95.

Aspen’s Upper East Side
Located at the base of Red Mountain, Aspen’s newest neighborhood of luxury homes (designed by Charles Cunniffe Architects and built by RJW Builders) is the latest in sophisticated, in-town living. Amenities include concierge services, reserved valet parking at The Little Nell, and personal ski lockers at the base of the gondola. foxcrossingaspen.com.