Melissa Delano is Donna Nelson’s sister (whom you met here on taoStyle on Monday) and as you can see, beauty and great style runs in the family.

Melissa or Missy as friends and family know her, is a total iconoclast. Upon meeting her, decked out in her amazing collection of vintage Native American jewelry (a lot of which has been appropriated by her daughter, she tells me) one could assume she’s a bohemian free-spirited nomad but don’t be fooled by the haute boho package.

A brilliant, driven business woman with the sensitivity of an artist, in recent years she’s turned her love of design and especially antique furniture into a career that for the moment has been sidelined due to the needs of her husband who has Parkinson’s disease. Missy, like her sister, plans to downsize her life. The Bunkhouse, her lovingly restored property, is for sale.

Although Melissa’s antique gallery at the Bunkhouse has for the moment closed, she is still available for private consultations and buying. Her knowledge of antique furniture is encyclopedic and she can spot a fake a mile away. Whether you’re looking for an antique treen or a bedroom cabinet, Melissa will be able to assist you.

Missy’s interior style is a little more quirky than her sister Donna’s and her home is filled with romantic touches befitting this double Leo. Her heart rules and passion is her middle name. Don’t get her started on anything she deems unfair or unjust!

Right now it’s all about our water and Melissa who is on the Acequia Board is determined to make certain everything is kept on the up and up. Talking to her about the water rights and issues, one is reminded of John Nichols’ classic Milagro Beanfield War. According to Melissa, it’s no different now.

The house she lives in with her husband, has an acequia running through it and is a rambling, vintage adobe farmhouse that she’s opened up and flooded with light with the addition of french doors and windows and lots of white wash. There’s a guest house for visiting friends and family and the vignettes Melissa creates with her collected treasures are simply magical.

For Missy, the devil is definitely in the details!

Although she shares her sister’s love of classic French Country style (inherited from their mother) she also has a long love affair with Mexican culture, (her daughter Megan is half Mexican) Colonial antiques and Western Americana which she effortlessly combines to great effect.

With this home, she has paid homage to the spirit of Northern New Mexico with rustic overtones and a nod to her Classical roots.

Melissa can be contacted at [email protected]

Photographs of Melissa and details of her home by Bill Curry

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