LaGrange couple blends early American and modern pieces to create own style

Anyone who considers living with antiques a challenge could take lessons from Rosemary Winters, who decorated her Tudor home elegantly with early American antiques — many wearing painted country finishes.

Years ago Winters preferred contemporary furniture. Not only that, her husband, Ray, is an industrial designer who made some of the contemporary pieces that stand alongside Rosemary's antiques.

While she still loves Ray's paintings and furniture, she grew tired of machine-made contemporary furniture.

“Everybody else who had modern furniture had the same things. It was very boring,” Rosemary said. “So I decided to buy a little laptop desk. It was rosewood with brass bands. It was beautiful, but then it got out of hand.”

Ray has also been won over by his wife's affection for centuries-old furniture.

“I not only like the antiques,” he said. “We have met many, many wonderful people connected with antiques: dealers, customers, historical lecturers, professors.”

True, Rosemary has an edge as an antiques dealer who owns Canal House Antiques in historic Lockport. She also studied long and hard at Winterthur Museum in Delaware, boasts her husband.

Rosemary Winters is a member of the Chicago Suburban Antiques Dealers, which has its fall sale Saturday, Oct. 15, and Sunday, Oct. 16. at the Kane County Fairgrounds in St. Charles.

Here are some of Rosemary's secrets that she uses in her LaGrange home:

Ÿ First stop is the living room. Not unusual in an older home, it is so large you hardly notice the grand piano in one corner.

The color red brings this all together, from the contemporary sofa to four antique wingbacks in Hepplewhite and Sheraton styles. While all the upholstery is wool, a few of the chairs show a subtle wide stripe of purple.

Rosemary learned that red was a popular choice when the Chippendale style came to America, and also that people of the late 1700s and early 1800s often decorated with a single color.

Unlike some furniture, wingbacks have remained popular over the centuries because they are comfortable, although Rosemary insists that adjective applies to most of her antique chairs and sofas.

Ÿ The pine blanket chest used as a coffee table dates from the 1700s and was once owned by George Samaha, a well-known collector and dealer in Ohio. Winters points out the chip carving and the very early snipe hinges, really just a few pieces of metal almost like nails.

This demonstrates her passion — painted country furniture, but well made, something you would find in an country gentleman's home, not cobbled together in a shed.

“This is a piece worthy of being in the living room,” she said. “It's very sturdy; you can serve hors d'oeuvres and cocktails on it and not hurt it, although we do put things underneath glasses.”

The boards in the chest are at least 18 inches wide, but Winters points out a tavern table across the room with a 3-foot-wide top made from a single piece of wood. It did crack some time over the last three centuries, and Winters treasures the wear on a low cross piece where patrons rested their boots.

Ÿ Rosemary leaves her fabulous Tudor casement windows and French doors uncovered. This shows off the rich oak woodwork, which includes a twist or rope pattern.

“I used to have more curtains, but I find the simplicity without curtains more appealing. The woodwork is pretty nice, and the people that lived in America in the early days used simple decor.”

Ÿ The mixture of contemporary pieces — especially the large painting Ray named “Let there be light” and the sideboard that he also created — make the dining room open, welcoming and fun, she said.

The thumback Windsor chairs that Winters loves for the depth of their painted finish cozy up to a very contemporary table.

While most of Winters' treasures are American, the corner cupboard from the early 1700s hanging over a painted drysink is English and very unusual. The 1850s American drysink is black, but was painted other colors earlier.

“Drysinks work so well for a dining room,” said the practical hostess. You can serve drinks from it. Put your carafes and candlesticks there, and they look like a collection. It's very useful, and there's a lot of room for storage inside.”

Ÿ The butcher block island in the kitchen came from a butcher shop owned by twins. It's larger than most so the brothers could cut meat across from each other.

Ÿ Accessories in the home include rich portraits of men and ships. Other standouts are the lamps, many made from reclaimed items like a large tea tin and a Bennington jug, with shades from vintage fabric.

Ÿ Here is Rosemary's mantra as a collector and as a dealer: “I want to find furniture in early surface, hopefully original. Old paint underneath another finish is fine.”

If you go

<B>What: </b>Chicago Suburban Antiques Dealers' Fox Valley Fall Antiques Show

<B>When: </b>10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16

<b>Where:</b> Kane County Fairgrounds, Randall Road between Main Street (Route 64) and Roosevelt Road (Route 38), St. Charles

<a href="http://www.csada.com/">Online: </b>csada.com

<b>Call: </b>(815) 838-0606

<b>Etc.: </b>Information on Rosemary Winters' Canal House Antiques is at canalhouseant.com or call (815) 838-8551</a>