Domestic spaces are often overlooked in the Western frontier genre of novels, which is typically associated with vast open landscapes and huge sunsets. Sometimes horses are hitched to rails and the facades of clearly labelled buildings, saloon bars, sheriff's offices, banks, even whorehouses —entered. But in the mythical West, it's never as clear where (and to whom) the cowboy goes when he goes home. It is this space that this paper will investigate. Focusing primarily on, four Western novels: The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, Butcher's Crossing by John Williams, and Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. How is the masculinity of the cowboy affected when he gets home in the evening and takes off his boots?