Urban Southwest

This store defies description. Take modernist lines, and add cowhide. Take Art Deco and roughen up the edges. Take rustic and add sophistication. Take a peck of dried chile peppers, and build roosters. Take a collection of wrought iron grilles and... I don't know. I'm still reeling.



Whether you love this style or hate it -- and you'll need a trip through the whole store to figure it out -- the experience of being there justifies the trip. The modernist metal facade hides an old house that the newer building was constructed around. So you weave through a maze of rooms, being confronted at every turn by unexpected objects that turn Southwestern cliches on their heads. Desert driftwood table base with glass top, anyone? Unfinished totem poles? Rabbit skin shell chair?



You will never think about Southwestern design in quite the same way. And for gifts, there are a great many affordable tchotchkes, including the chile pepper roosters