Cowboy Culture - Monterey Furniture

The contradiction of the isolated environment with the function of the Walking Box Ranch as a home and meeting place is an interesting amalgam of actions and ideas. The lack of surface water, the high spring and summer heat, and the cold fall and winter nights all provide for a most inhospitable environment. Regardless, Rex and Clara dabbled in cowboy culture, and the indoor décor created the idealized, isolated ranch life the two craved while providing ample space to entertain Hollywood friends on occasion. The furniture within the great room allows visitors to identify with the daily life of Clara Bow and Rex Bell and relate to the simple life they led surrounded by the Mojave Desert near the small town of Searchlight. Monterey furniture laid the groundwork for the "Cowboy Chic" western furniture of today, just as the stars of the golden age romanticized the West and what it meant to be a star.