Setting a static home page and blog page without using the settings
The answer appears to be that it is possible: http://codex.wordpress.org/Creating_a_Static_Front_Page Configuration of front-page.php If it exists, the front-page.php template file is used on the site’s front page regardless of whether ‘Settings > Reading ->Front page displays’ is set to “A static page” or “Your latest posts,” the Theme will need to account for both options, … Read more