by ALLYN CALTON

A gentle breeze billows over rolling hills, teasing the tall grass before darting playfully through the branches of native junipers and ash trees. In the background, well-tended hayfields stretch neatly as far as the eye can see, and the muted sound of bellowing cattle carries softly across the landscape.

A working cattle ranch, Bittersweet Station can be found just outside of Lexington, Kentucky, on 700 acres spread across Bourbon and Fayette counties. The owner, John, named the property for the wild bittersweet vines that his mother discovered on a remote corner of the family’s first farm. “My family has a long history of working the land,” John says in a timbered voice softened by a Southern drawl. “In the past we raised tobacco; these days it’s hay, cattle, and feed corn.”

For many years the family ran a Black Angus genetic breeding business. As John traveled throughout the South and West trading genetics and buying and selling cattle to develop a more productive stock, he became increasingly enamored with the Old West. “I was captivated by the ideal nature of cowboys‚ the Western lifestyle and authentic, Old West furnishings,” John says. Before long he had amassed a collection of art and antiques reminiscent of the American West, and he decided to build a Western-style guesthouse on his property to house them. So he called on veteran log home builders Bill and Beth Clark, who had worked with him before when they built a log home for the farm manager.

John was very specific about what he wanted,” remembers Bill. “He loves the American West and wanted a place to showcase his extensive collection of Western memorabilia. We started with a modified loft plan and incorporated heavy timbers, natural rock, and reclaimed materials, along with special design details throughout to replicate that style.” From the outside, the cabin is both rustic and inviting. Massive, hand-hewn logs 40 feet in length frame the home inside and out. “The squared logs and sand-colored chinking bring symmetry to the wall surface,” Bill says.

A large, sheltered porch supported by six vertical log posts spans the entire front of the home. “Typically porch posts are square,” Bill points out, “but John wanted natural cedar posts which look more authentic.” So Bill used cedar trees from his own farm, debarking, sanding, and staining the trunks before setting them in place. “See that small bit of tree root along the bottom? It’s one of those small design details that make a big difference,” Bill says.

Stepping through the arched entryway is like walking into the 19th-century American West. “There’s no drywall, no typical building materials, no modern d√©cor used anywhere,” John says proudly. Inside the entry, the great room opens magnificently to the tall, vaulted ceiling and loft above. On the far wall, a massive dry-stacked natural stone fireplace stretches floor-to-ceiling. The mantel was fashioned out of a floor joist taken from the famous Brown Hotel in Lexington during a renovation project. At the base of the fireplace, a single stone bridges the hearth creating a cavity underneath for storing firewood. “I got that idea from a cabin in Lewistown, Montana,” John says. Above the mantel hangs a bison mount from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and to the right an authentic Cheyenne war bonnet dating back to the 1890s. “It may be one of the last surviving handmade war bonnets of that time,” he says.

Twin windows flank the fireplace, each inset with beautiful antique leaded glass. “The stained glass windows were my mother’s,” John says. “I found them in a storage shed and they happened to be the perfect size for these windows.” The interior walls were fashioned out of reclaimed barn wood that had seasoned and cured over decades. “The oak was never painted, which gives it tremendous visual flavor,” he points out. For flooring, John chose reclaimed planks of wood from an old tobacco warehouse and installed them using square pegs. Overhead hangs a large custom light fixture crafted to look like the wheel of a Conestoga wagon with four old-time lanterns affixed to decorative metal rods.

The home’s kitchen continues the Old West theme, with retro-looking Heartland appliances, a dual copper sink, and custom white pine cabinetry. A sand-colored granite counter-top brightens the space while providing an efficient prep area. Here the arched design elements are repeated in the back door, the window valance, and the 9-inch-thick doorway casing between the kitchen and great room. “The thickness of the doorways made the arches a bit of a challenge for the finish carpenters,” John says.

Like the rest of the home, the master bedroom features uniquely constructed furnishings befitting the Old West. Built on-site by the farm manager, the bed frame is made out of reclaimed barn wood from the old Hamburg Farm, renowned for housing five Kentucky Derby winners, and rails that were once used to dry tobacco. Pressed leather insets on the head- and footboards complement the aged lumber. Next to the bed, a custom nightstand features knobs made out of rusted railroad spikes and old shotgun shells modified to work as pegs.

“We took our time and did things right,” John says, taking an appreciative look at his surroundings. “But I won’t say it’s finished. This is one home I want to keep working on.”

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