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Text by Kim Ratcliff •
Styling by Heidi Adams •
Photography by Robin Stubbert
IF YOU HAPPEN upon an entire family at a flea market or antiques store in
Texas hill country, digging through boxes or scouring shelves for that perfect
treasure, it’s probably the Chesser clan. You’ll find Alyrose, 19 and a
voracious reader, thumbing through vintage books. Cassidy, 16, might be hunting
for candy-colored vintage radios for her bedroom. Seth, 15, finds camping
memorabilia irresistible. Caleb, 12, and Will, 10, go wild for anything with a
cowboy-and-Indians theme.
Perhaps the Chesser kids show flea-marketing
finesse because they were born into a Texas decorating dynasty. Parents Cathy
and Robin have owned Me and My House, a San Antonio furnishings store, for 10
years. Down the interstate in Fredricksburg, Cathy’s sister Carol Hicks Bolton
has her own line of furniture upholstery. She also owns Homestead, a three-story
home décor emporium where, at a peppy 83-years-young, the family matriarch, Rose
Hicks, works five days a week. Cathy’s other talented sister, Janet Proch, does
special projects at Homestead; Janet’s husband, Tom, is a gifted painter and
stencil designer.
(a) Dried flowers pressed in glass by a
family friend hang askew in the Chesser’s formal dining room. “That’s the big
family joke,” says Cathy. “I’m straightedge challenged, so I hang everything
crooked on purpose.” (b) Three reproduction
chandeliers (different styles, similar colors) are grouped together to give the
new home a vintage feel. Flanked by two deacon’s benches, the table was created
from refurbished lumber and hand-painted by Brazilian villagers. (c) Antique plates, souvenir starfish, and a pot
decoupaged with an old hymnal share a mellow patina.
(d) The island’s dark walnut stain contrasts nicely
with the buttery yellow kitchen cabinetry and granite countertops. A chandelier
pot rack adds a touch of mood lighting. (e)
Glass-doored cabinets are the perfect spot to showcase Cathy’s pottery
collection. (f) The Chesser’s cozy
farmhouse. (g) Who’s got Park Place? (h) After discovering the price tag of Cathy’s
dream kitchen, Robin did much of the work himself, including painstakingly
distressing the cabinets with a knife. Recipes are tucked into a slotted vintage
desk piece, a gift from Cathy’s sister Carol.
A Family-Filled Funhouse page
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