Today, ranch-style log cabins endure as American icons. Log beds covered with woolen Native American blankets provide rest for the weary. Still, the Victorian look can successfully be brought to a log cabin, especially one with squared logs that offer a smooth canvas for hanging the multitude of paintings, mirrors, and knickknacks that are the hallmarks of this style. The deep colors also offer a range of textures, from leather to brocade to velvet. Log cabins sheltered the pioneers as they settled the frontier. Some pioneers abandoned their log cabins as soon as they had the wherewithal to build a frame house. In recreation areas across the country, from the woods of New England and the Northeast to the lakes of the Midwest, families built log cabins as escapes from their urban and suburban homes. By the end of the century in settled regions of the United States, log homes were out of fashion. In stark contrast to Shaker style, Americans at the end of the 1800s loved opulence. Democracy has few seats left for its run at the National but there are day seats available from 10am on the day and returns on sale from 6pm. However I think Democracy will have a theatre life way beyond the National with probably a West End transfer, as Copenhagen did (Editor's Note: Per item in New Noteworthy it is slated to cross the ocean to Broadway).

Democracy transfers to the Wyndham's Theatre, which lacks the starkness of the Cottesloe, but does have something of its intimacy so that set and production work well in their new home. Reproductions enable all who enjoy clean lines and simple beauty to bring the Shaker look home. Saddles, boots, lariats, and spurs hung on the wall remind modern-day ranchers of their roots -- a lifestyle captured in Remington's bronze sculptures, which also look right at home in the log cabin ranch. The accessories used to complete the setting included spurs, saddles, boots, and bows and arrows, while art on the walls depicted the fabled life of the cowboy singing under the stars and driving cattle across the great open spaces. Mother Nature served as interior designer: Birch bark lined walls and ceilings, twigs set in mosaic patterns trimmed windows and doors, crooked branches became stair railings, and stone piled up into foundations and chimneys. No lodge-style home is complete without a massive fireplace, preferably built of stone. Near the center of the home, an inglenook surrounded the fireplace, which may have been accented by handmade tiles.

Inside a typical Arts & Crafts-style home, dark wood prevailed. Inside you'll find wood floors, How to Hold a Billiard Cue some­times painted a cottage gray. The basics of cottage style are comfort and practicality. If this happened world civilization would decline: "On this planet of ours human culture and civilization are indissolubly bound up with the presence of the Aryan. Hitler believed that Aryan superiority was being threatened particularly by the Jewish race who, he argued, were lazy and had contributed little to world civilization. Hitler first met him in 1925. Both men were impressed with each other. Goebbels described one of their first meetings in his diary: "Shakes my hand. Pottery was thrown by hand. Logs used in this style can be round or flat, or timber framing can be used. New methods of framing homes with sawn, dimensional lumber and the invention of mass-produced nails meant that most people built wood-framed homes trimmed with decorative woodwork. These people longed for a return to the Middle Ages, when fine artisans learned their crafts through a guild system. At the height of the Victorian age, before the Arts & Crafts movement blossomed, the barons of the Industrial Revolution discovered the outdoors. The furnishings, which followed the Arts & Crafts tradition, made the dude ranches comfortable for their posh guests, while still providing a somewhat primitive, rustic feel.

Mexican silver adds sparkle, while adobe is sculpted into soft, rounded archways. There, precious timbers were used to create roof and ceiling structures to support the heavy roofs of adobe homes. Traditionally, small windows, thick adobe walls, and tiled floors helped keep homes cool in the desert heat. The desert Southwest offered its inhabitants few trees. Just as the wealthy Eastern establishment flocked to the Adirondacks at the turn of the century, a few decades later they began looking for outdoor adventure farther afield. The furnishings produced at the time differed sharply from their Victorian predecessors. This was the first time food had been produced at our conferences. To achieve this expansion in the East and to win back land lost during the First World War, Hitler claimed that it might be necessary to form an alliance with Britain and Italy. Navajo rugs or cowhides might gussy up the wide-planked wood floors.