I need a leather seated AWD or 4WD vehicle for myself and one other
passenger with space in the back of the car for hauling antiques home.
 I drive up a steep snowy hill in the Catskills in the Winter so I
really need that AWD.  Which SUV should I buy?  (tried the Outback -
too uncomfortable.  Tried the Jeep Liberty - it was a smidge too small
and a bit too bouncy a ride.  Sant Fe Hyundai??  Just dunno.

You should get a Nissan Pathfinder.  I like mine.

I would definitely recommend a Hyundai Santa Fe. I have had mine for
over a year and it has AWD V6 that lets me get up snowy hills with no
problem (including getting my wife to the hospital when she went into
labor during a blizzard), it has plenty of room in the back for
storage, it gets good gas mileage, and it has recently been rated at
the highest reliability rating in its class (tied with the Toyota
RAV4.)  Also, Santa Fes tend to come with standard features that are
options in other cars (like everything electric, A/C, roof rack,
electrical outlets, tape and CD player, etc.)