![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/mshanken.imgix.net\/cao\/bolt\/2026-03\/courter5.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe humidor was custom-built for Courter in Vermont, remaining\u00a0in his Boston home when they moved, and it stayed there as he rented the house out for quite some time. \u201cBut I said someday I\u2019m going to rip that thing out and ship it here to Texas,\u201d says Courter. Eventually, the \u201cperfect storm\u201d came together: his son went off to school in Scotland, they sold the Boston house and the humidor finally made it to Austin. Now, the cigar room transformation could begin. \u201cThat was the cornerstone for the rest of the smoking room,\u201d says Courter.<\/p>\n
To complete the job, Courter brought in a trusted design firm, CG&S Design-Build, that had already done several projects on his Austin home, from a complete kitchen remodel to redesigning the outside of the house. \u201cTheir DNA is all over this house,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re really good, really detailed, they\u2019ll listen to you, but they’ll give you leadership when it\u2019s time to do leadership.\u201d For the cigar room, Courter imagined a 1950s-style study room, with dark green walls and elegant wood paneling, like something out of the hit television show Mad Men. \u201cI gave them the vision, and they ran with it,\u201d he says. Courter gives particular credence to the woodwork in the room, which he says is the most complimented element of the space from visitors. The cigar room took a couple months to complete, and it was finished three years ago.<\/p>\n
Courter\u2019s cigar space has everything an aficionado needs. There\u2019s a gorgeous cherry wood and black marble bar, reminiscent of the sophisticated cocktail era of the 1950s. Courter has spirits and wine from all over the world, including spirits from Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, along with bottles of French wine. He also has standard cigar room selections, such as Balvenie, Jack Daniels, Dewar\u2019s and Blanton\u2019s. And should your heart desire more wine, wine racks border either side of the custom cabinet humidor, tucked away in a nook in the corner of the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Courter laid the space out to serve as both a place of solace and an office. The various lighting options in the room reinforce this dual purpose, with the ability to brighten the room up for a work call or cool it down for a more intimate, relaxing setting. The space is outfitted with a large TV, a wood and black marble fireplace, hidden storage in the wood paneling, a leather couch, a work desk, a large bookshelf, his cherished humidor and a sizable, handmade coffee table. The latter piece was bought by Courter in Germany in 1980, when he was in the Army. It\u2019s one of many relics that he has scattered around the space, which sat in wait for many years until his dream cigar room became a reality. For ventilation, Courter installed a single smoke eater in the room that he says does the trick, with no smoke lingering as enjoys cigars.<\/p>\n
He keeps most of his personal mementos on his bookshelf and the area around his desk, including photos from his past and of his parents, as well as his father\u2019s artifacts from World War II. Cigars are one of the ways Courter can still feel connected to his father. His pops was a cigar smoker himself and back in 1974, just as Courter was about to head to college, his dad taught him how to blow smoke rings with cigars. Sadly, that was his last memory with his father, who passed away suddenly two months later. \u201cI can still do it perfectly,\u201d says Courter, referring to blowing smoke rings as his dad taught him. Cigars are in his DNA. Courter even recently found out he has Dutch lineage with an actual surname of \u201cCourten,\u201d before it was changed when his ancestors moved stateside. As he dug further, he discovered that he came from a long line of cigarmakers in Holland.<\/p>\n Now, Courter turns to cigars as his own source of escape and as a way to decompress after long days of teaching. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of nice after eight hours of lecture,\u201d he says. \u201cHalf way through I\u2019m tired of teaching these guys and I can think in four hours I\u2019ll be in my cigar room.\u201d For Courter, he likes to break down cigar smoking into four main elements: \u201cwhat you’re smoking, where you’re smoking, with who you\u2019re smoking and what you pair it with,\u201d he says, before adding a concession: \u201cand sometimes, you just want to be alone.\u201d He estimates it\u2019s about an 80\/20 split on smoking by himself in the room versus having friends over. But Courter keeps his invite list small, to cigar smokers and known friends only. \u201cI\u2019m over 60, I\u2019ve met everyone I\u2019m ever going to like,\u201d he quips.\u00a0<\/p>\n Courter estimates he uses his space at least four times a week. \u201cIt\u2019s the room I\u2019m going to die in,\u201d he says, in quite a matter-of-fact tone. It\u2019s his go-to-spot for sports and relaxing, but he\u2019ll also do his virtual meetings there. \u201cI like having Zoom board calls because it kind of sets the tone,\u201d he says, before adding with a laugh that sometimes he\u2019ll position the camera so the gun rack on the wall is in the background, further setting the mood with his colleagues.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n