Shuck, who scours junk shops and flea markets, started collecting portraits 25 years ago. Some of his favorites are displayed in the bathroom. “I focus on the subjects, and don’t really care so much about the quality or artistic style,” he says. "I gravitate to ones where I get a sense that the artist really loved or respected the person they were painting. It’s just a feeling, but it’s what draws me to them."Photograph by Jessica Attie
Expertly curated, über-masculine, and all-around-cool men’s shop Stag Provisions for Men started on South Congress Avenue in Austin in December of 2009. Stocked with an enviable collection of jeans, sturdy yet stylish work boots, a year-round run of plaid shirts in every color, cozy sweaters in the winter and swimwear in the summer, the concept immediately resonated with discerning dude shoppers (and women, too, like Fixer Upper‘s Joanna Gaines, who has been known to shop there on Austin visits). Stag, co-owned by Steve Shuck and Don Weir, now has four locations in Texas—South Congress and Domain Northside in Austin, Westheimer Road in Houston, and Cole Avenue in Dallas—as well as one in Venice, California.
Part of the brand’s success is due to Shuck’s expert skills as an interior and retail display designer. He worked in corporate retail around the world for the likes of Gap before deciding he wanted to do something “more personal and special”—he moved to Austin in 2005 and opened Mercury Design Studio in the Second Street District. Shuck has always had a knack for design. “I’ve always loved creating a cozy space for myself. I remember wallpapering my own bedroom when I was 12 years old, because I thought it looked cool in a TV show I watched,” he says.
Shuck brought big style to his almost 1,000-square-foot cottage in Austin’s Hyde Park neighborhood near the University of Texas. Take a tour through its charming 1930s-era rooms.
Stag co-owner Steve Shuck's cozy Hyde Park cottage was built in the 1930s. Its traditional exterior belies the layered and whimsical interior, which is filled with Shuck's treasures.
Photograph by Jessica Attie
Shuck describes his design style as warm, cozy, and imperfect. "I like a room that feels lived in, and a space where nothing feels too precious or untouchable. I also work a lot during the day, so I often design my personal spaces thinking about how they’ll look at night when I can actually enjoy them."
Photograph by Jessica Attie
Shuck, who scours junk shops and flea markets, started collecting portraits 25 years ago. Some of his favorites are displayed in the bathroom. “I focus on the subjects, and don’t really care so much about the quality or artistic style,” he says. "I gravitate to ones where I get a sense that the artist really loved or respected the person they were painting. It’s just a feeling, but it’s what draws me to them."
Photograph by Jessica Attie
Don Weir, Shuck's business partner at Stag, found the "Drugs" sign in beat-up condition in the Warrenton fields at Round Top. It was in pieces, and Shuck found someone to repair it. "Though it wasn’t in good enough condition to sell, it found a home with me," Shuck says. "Its imperfections fit right into my space." The pair of blue chairs were a find from Uptown Modern in Austin, and the silver pharmacy lamp is by Ralph Lauren.
Photograph by Jessica Attie
A hand sculpture doubles as a clever shelf for Shuck's book collection.
Photograph by Jessica Attie
Taxidermy birds from Shuck’s collection, which he has acquired over the past fifteen years, are found throughout the home. The dining table light is from Restoration Hardware, and the rare vintage chairs are Tomlinson from the late 1950s.
Photograph by Jessica Attie
Shuck had always planned on replacing his dining room table, so he thought he would just let it go out with a bang, buying carving tools and encouraging friends to write on it, an idea inspired by a 1950s school desk he saw with carvings on it. "It’s been almost ten years now, and hundreds of folks have left their mark (literally),” Shuck says. "It’s a real treasure and an interesting timeline, too."
Photograph by Jessica Attie
The living room is the first space you see when walking into the home. “It really sets the tone for the rest of the house. It’s warm and layered and a little weird, but comfortable and inviting at the same time,” Shuck says. "It’s definitely filled with things that I love, is a little beaten in around the edges, and doesn’t take itself too seriously.” Shuck tracked down the last camel-colored love seat in stock at Anthropologie a few years ago, finding it under a pile of coats in a store in NYC.
Photograph by Jessica Attie
The hand sculpture is a Restoration Hardware find, and the beads are dyed coral from Round Top. A desert cabbage rests in a ceramic bowl on top of a custom-made tablecloth that uses a David Hicks black-and-white hex fabric.
Photograph by Jessica Attie
The master bedroom displays an eclectic mix of Shuck’s treasures, like the art above the bed from Austin’s Uncommon Objects. The bed and linens are by Restoration Hardware.
Photograph by Jessica Attie
It was love at first sight when Shuck saw this bird painting in 1998 at the annual sale the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art holds each spring. The show sells work from the archives and other donated pieces the museum can’t store. “It is a feeding frenzy that has to be witnessed to be believed, he says. "I’m afraid I lost the info on the artist since then, but it is so beautiful and layered with metal plating, paint, paper, and wax.” The hand/foot sculpture was found at the Marburger Farm Antique Show, and the stand it sits on is Indonesian.
Photograph by Jessica Attie
Shuck's approach to design? "Take all of the things that you love and put them together. You may need to edit a bit, but the things that bring us joy or comfort often have common denominators that allow them to work together," he says. "Also, invest in the best quality you can afford and put a dimmer on every light in your house. Brightly lit rooms should be reserved for dental surgery. Finally, don’t be afraid to take some chances and update from time to time. Rooms can be painted (and repainted) and sofas can be recovered if you don’t like your initial results."
