Favorite room: A rustic man cave, filled with hunting and fishing collectibles, overlooking Priest's Bay on Lake Minnetonka.
Created by: Rod Taylor, Minnetrista.
The back story: Taylor first started collecting duck decoys as a kid growing up on the Jersey Shore. As an adult working in marketing, he refined his taste, favoring handcrafted artisan pieces. He's written magazine articles about collectibles, which introduced him to noted carvers and furniture makers. "I'd write an article about somebody and get so excited about what they do that I'd convince myself I've got to buy their stuff," he said.
He now owns a few hundred hand-carved duck decoys, about three dozen hand-carved fish and an array of distinctive furniture made of twigs, bark and stone. When Taylor moved from Cincinnati to Minnesota about three years ago, he decided to create a man cave for his collection on the lower level of his house. "She [his wife, Ann] said, 'That's your room. No fish, no ducks in the living room.' "
How he created it: Taylor gave the room's fireplace a rugged makeover. "I wanted very round stones," he said. "On a fishing trip to Canada, I found some, rounded by ice. I asked the guide, 'Would you mind if I took some of these?' " After getting the go-ahead, Taylor filled a gym bag and carried 50 pounds of rocks back home, via air. The Canadian rocks were incorporated by Taylor's stonemason into a new full-wall fireplace surround.
For his mantel, Taylor had a wooden slab carved with his favorite quote from Robert the Bruce, the medieval warrior king who fought for Scotland's independence from England. The mantel is supported on carved goose-head corbels. Custom cabinets were designed to display specific collectibles, such as a vintage outboard motor.
Taylor finished the room with a barnboard accent wall, reclaimed from a 19th-century Amish farm, then furnished the space with his rustic furniture and red plaid upholstered pieces. "Plaid is relaxing to me," he said. Finally, he filled the room with his wooden wildlife figures, plus memorabilia from his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"Mies van der Rohe said 'Less is more. My motto is 'More is more.' " Taylor has so many collectibles that he had enough left to also outfit his upstairs office. "That's the man perch," he said.
The payoff: Taylor enjoys spending time in his man cave just about every day. "I love this room," he said. "When I have the neighbor guys down for a beer, this is just the perfect place. A couple times a week, I come down to watch a game — anything with a W [for Wisconsin], I'll watch it." Or he just savors the view of the lake. "It never gets old," he said. "It's heaven."
Kim Palmer • 612-673-4784
