New guidebook puts cultural hub of rural Texas on display

AUSTIN, Texas – Twice a year, on a two-lane road between Austin and Houston, a tiny black dot on the map plays host to as many as 50,000 visitors for its world famous antiques show.

But more than a twice-yearly mecca for art collectors, designers and antiques enthusiasts, Round Top, Texas (population 77), is a burgeoning off-the-beaten-path haven for year-round arts, culture, music – and Southern hospitality served with pie, of course.

So who better than two Round Top Antiques Show faithfuls to share its hidden treasures? Austin’s Gretchen von Rochow and Kerry Rupp have co-authored The Parisian Cowboy’s Guide to The Round Top Experience (March 2010, $24.95, 232 pages), a photo guidebook covering the famous Antiques Show and year-round charm of the arts-filled travel destination. The book points readers to Round Top’s must-see antiques, craft, and art show venues and vendors, as well as local dining, lodging, shopping and entertainment establishments.

The Parisian Cowboy’s Guide to The Round Top Experience will receive a fitting welcome during Round Top’s springtime Antiques Show, March 31st, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the Round Top Festival Institute.

The Round Top Antiques Show is not actually a single antiques show and it’s not actually just in Round Top. For two weeks each spring and fall, antiques dealers from around the globe set up their wares at more than 60 venues stretching from Carmine south toward La Grange, and from Round Top and Warrenton east to Shelby and Fayetteville. Dealers bring anything from vintage sterling, English majolica, original oil paintings, period lighting, fine furniture, antique books, and fine European linens to Depression glass, primitives, decorative collectibles, country store items and unusual folk art.

In addition to antiques, Round Top boasts the longest-running July Fourth celebration west of the Mississippi, drawing crowds up to 10,000. It is home to the Round Top Festival Institute, a world-class music hall with a classical music-training program. Round Top also hosts the famed Shakespeare at Winedale summer play series each year.

“The town offers so much in addition to the antiques show – Round Top is a year-round travel destination,” says von Rochow, once a vendor at the Antiques Show. “Since our ‘best-kept secret’ is in fact secret no more, it was high time Round Top visitors have a guide to the best this tiny town has to offer.”

The Parisian Cowboy’s Guide to The Round Top Experience is the first in the “Parisian Cowboy” line, a series of lifestyle books targeting a sophisticated, well-traveled audience with an appreciation of the domestic and culinary arts, antiques, entertaining, small-town America and travel.

Gretchen von Rochow is the creator of Parisian Cowboy. She attended Western Washington University and The Art Institute of Seattle and has 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur.

Kerry Rupp founded Holiday Golightly, an online travel service specializing in girlfriend getaway trips, and served as the editor of CRAVE Austin: The Urban Girls’ Manifesto (August 2009).

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To set up an interview, or receive a review copy, contact Stephanie Ridge:
(512) 501-4399 x703, stephanie@prbythebook.com.