This house almost leads two lives. There's the more formal life, with parties that begin in the living room at the front of the house, continue in the wine cellar, and climax with dinner in the main dining room. This is a couple who enjoy entertaining, so it's not the familiar case of the formal living and dining rooms that hardly ever get used. Besides, both spaces are quite inviting. The living room is dressy, but not one that looks like it should have a velvet rope across the entrance.

Whether it's a fancy dinner party or a holiday gathering for family, the house has a special flow. Guests gather in the living room as they arrive, then they are escorted down the long, vaulted hallway lined with French doors on one side, and on to the wine cellar. After drinks and hors d'oeuvres, they return to the long hallway, where the portieres covering the entrance to the dining room are opened to reveal lighted candles and a lavishly set table. It's incredibly dramatic.

There's a rather old Hollywood look to the dining room. We found the classic 1920s Spanish chairs with stamped leather and nailheads on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. The vintage chandelier is quite unexpected "not crystal or bronze, but painted metal and wood, very Italian with a real garden look" one of our finds in an eclectic shop in Paris. A beautiful antique inspired the walnut table, which we had made in Big Sandy, Texas, because it's difficult to find an antique dining table that is the right size and really functions. When there's no seated dinner, the chairs are placed around the perimeter of the room, European style.

Then there are the more informal family gatherings when the activity centers in the spacious kitchen and spills over to the great room dining table and the comfortable seating areas around the concealed TV and the grand fireplace.

So much effort went into making the interior look and feel as if it has been there for quite a while. Heavy, hand-planed doors and windows were crafted in Colorado of alder wood because it has such beautiful character. Victor Salas did all the beams and deep base boards in antiqued and glazed Western cedar and the kitchen cabinets in knotty alder. There's a real art to finishing wood so it looks naturally distressed, not too contrived, or just plain fake.

Every tile "and I lost count of the different kinds and the countries they came from" was carefully chosen to continue the mellow, aged patina we were seeking. And my sister examined every single tile. In some areas we combined tile with hand-planed wood, which gives a really hand-crafted look. Sometimes it can get a little testy, having the wood floor guy working with the tile guy, and who goes first and other situations, but we knew the results would be worth the difficulty.

One of my favorite things in the kitchen is an old hutch displaying only part of my sister's collection of "Merryweather" dishes by Royal Doulton, an unusual pattern in blue and white and yellow. I remember when, at least 25 years ago, she asked me how to start a collection. She had bought this little "Merryweather" plate somewhere, and I said, "Why don't you collect this pattern? Look for it every time you go in an antiques shop."

She followed my advice, and eventually found a dealer in London who specialized in china from the 1930s, when her pattern was made. Soon he was turning up more and more pieces and calling or writing her about this teapot or that platter. You can establish some excellent connections when you start collecting something in particular, and it's amazing what you might discover.