home theater design Archives - Page 2 of 3

Cineluxe Showcase

Our in-depth looks at some of the most innovative, versatile, and just plain fun entertainment spaces in the world

achieving serenity

how an impossible private cinema came to bloom in the Palm Springs desert

“Serenity is a freshly minted 22,000 sq. ft. home nuzzling a golf course in Indian Wells, CA. Done in the kind of Mies-gone-wild style that’s become a signature look in expansive post-millennium west coast homes, it features a wide-open floorplan that’s as much about outdoors as indoors, and hinges its effect on a seamless flow between those two worlds. The whole is infused with a very contemporary sense of play, best evinced on the lower level, which gives off a distinctive carnival vibe, with guests free to stroll from the sports-car collection past a two-story rotating wine tower and onto an elaborate dance floor, then pass a Zen garden on their way to the private cinema—a cinema, by the way, that really shouldn’t exist. And yet there it is.” read more

secret cinema

tucked away in a manor house in the lush English countryside, this high-performance private theater proves to be something very much more than just an intriguing novelty

“It wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect this article to be all about how cleverly this room is hidden away. It’s not. Putting all the emphasis there would be doing the room, the home, the homeowners, and the team that whipped up this cool, gleaming gem of a theater a huge disservice because, while the whole ‘hidden away’ thing is definitely intriguing, leaning on it too hard would obscure that this is as much a serious cinema as a secret one.” read more

spanish treasure

an intense collaboration between the homeowners and their designer resulted in a cutting-edge Old World private cinema

“This is the story of a unique theater and of a unique collaboration—about how an all-star team had to muster all its expertise to get the square peg of a room to fit into the round hole of the area they had to work with without having any of the seams show. And about how they were able to turn a daunting number of liabilities into virtues, letting those challenges serve as inspiration to whip up a private cinema that dovetails neatly with the look of the rest of the home while exhibiting an appropriately theatrical flair that makes it a singular and dashing design statement of its own.” read more

rooms for improvement

the entertainment spaces in this Australian home are undeniably spectacular—but after a decade in use, they were ready for a major sonic makeover

“This story could have easily just been about the Theo Kalomirakis-designed Art Deco home cinema. Or it could have focused instead on the jawdropping one-of-a-kind entertainment area, with its discreet stage, ability to accommodate 250 guests, and epic views of Sydney Harbor. But there turned out to be an even bigger—though not quite as showy and obvious—story to be told, about how these kinds of high-end spaces have become so elaborate and flexible and the trends and technologies influencing and supporting them are evolving so quickly, that we’re now being presented with an unprecedented array of opportunities—but also the continual challenge of staying ahead of the curve.” read more

inside the ultimate
home entertainment space

this domestic entertainment complex includes not just one of the great home theaters but also a nightclub, a gaming arcade, and even a café

“Designer Theo Kalomirakis and acoustician Steve Haas have collaborated on a number of cost-no-object home theaters, but probably none of those efforts has been as ambitious, versatile, or well-realized as the Paradiso. Seventeen years in the making, this Southern California gem is actually an entire home-entertainment complex built around an Italianate piazza. The reference-quality 15-seat home theater doubles as a fully-fledged concert hall. The nightclub features a hydraulic stage and can handle anything from a rock band to a jazz group. Next door to the club resides an arcade, containing the homeowner’s extensive collection of pinball machines and video games. There’s even a g-force flight simulator.” read more

a tribeca trendsetter

the desire for a casual movie-watching space in this apartment’s main living area led to the creation of a high-performance hideaway theater

“Ed Gilmore casually bringing some shots of a project he’d done in Tribeca up on his computer monitor was a major “a-ha” moment for me. The first shot showed a stylish, obviously comfortable living area that also served as a billiards room, dining room, and kitchen. The second showed the same room transformed into a home entertainment space a lot of people would die for. That, a completely intuitive part of me screamed, perfectly represents the new paradigm. Others apparently agree with that conclusion because people just won’t leave Ed alone about the Tribeca space. Ironically, even he admits it’s not perfect—but it’s getting there, as the client invests more and more in turning what was initially a whim into a room that can blow a typical movie theater out of the water.” read more

luxury made easy

a prefabricated premium theater that not only met but exceeded the client’s high expectations

“Seeing the interest in dedicated theater rooms decline over the past few years, legendary designer Theo Kalomirakis has helped form Rayva, a company devoted to dramatically simplifying the process of designing, engineering, and installing high-end theaters. Rayva recently completed a signature installation in Westchester County, north of New York City, that’s meant to show that the company’s streamlined approach to theater design can yield a luxury result.” read more

music for art’s sake

the desire to have an expansive art collection on display made filling this Manhattan apartment with sumptuous sound a challenge

“The one inescapable truth of Manhattan real estate is that, no matter how prodigious the space or the wealth of resources at hand, getting what you want requires being a master of the art of compromise. The trick is making it all happen without feeling squeezed—space-wise, convenience-wise, performance-wise, pleasure-wise. Everything about Hudson Yards would be considered generous, even by Manhattan standards. A gleaming-new city within the city resting above the railroad yards in midtown, its opulent living spaces offer heart-of-the-island convenience, killer views, and, when it comes to square footage, a decent amount of room to roam. But there are limits.” read more

Luxury Made Easy

Showcase

Inside the Ultimate
Home Entertainment Space

Achieving Serenity

A Tribeca Trendsetter

A prefabricated premium theater that not only met but exceeded the client’s high expectations

by Michael Gaughn
December 19, 2019

Legendary designer Theo Kalomirakis not only created the concept of home theater but has been the standard-bearer for luxury home cinema for his entire career. His two best-selling coffeetable books—Private Theaters and Great Escapes—are filled with lavish theaters created in every imaginable style.

Seeing the interest in dedicated theater rooms decline over the past few years, Theo has helped form Rayva, a company devoted to dramatically simplifying the process of designing, engineering, and installing high-end theaters. Rayva recently completed a signature installation in Westchester County, north of New York City, that’s meant to show that the company’s streamlined approach to theater design can yield a luxury result.

I talked to Theo about some of the challenges and triumphs of creating this strikingly contemporary space.

Did this begin as a Rayva theater?

No. The client saw a custom theater I had designed for a friend of his and said, “Let’s do something similar for my house.” I told him, “We can come up with something based on one of the designs we’re developing for Rayva. I think there is one that would fit your house very well.”

The room was above the garage, in a new space, and it was ready for the theater. But it was perforated with windows on three sides. So I said, “It’s not good to put a home theater in a room with windows. The light creates a problem, and, more importantly, the sound will bounce off the glass.” He said, “I don’t mind if you want to cover the windows. It’s the garage. We don’t need to touch them from the outside. You can close them from inside.”

That was an interesting challenge. I wanted to cover the windows, but I wanted the client to still be able to have access to them. So, the windows dictated the design. And because Rayva panels are in increments of four feet, I could place one in front of a window and have it removable if access was needed.

I felt very vindicated that this process we’ve developed allows even difficult rooms to become theaters, because you don’t have to touch the structural elements in the room or the engineering elements. And, because of the flexibility of our design elements, we can deal with difficult design challenges.

What did the client tell you were his expectations for the room?

He just wanted to have a great theater. He said, “Cost is not the issue. I just would like to have the best technology, the best design, the best seats.” I shared with him brochures with Cineak seating. And, sure enough, he selected one of the best-looking seats and picked the softest, more plush leather, which is what he got.

And then we selected the carpet. Usually that happens at the end of the design process and the clients are overwhelmed with all the expenses of equipment and woodwork and everything. So, I automatically suggested just a plain grey industrial-quality nylon carpet that in a room like that would cost, at most, five, six thousand dollars. But I also showed him something that was plusher, like wool. He immediately went with the wool. He said, “Listen—I’m not going to use a nylon carpet. I spent so much money on the theater, I want the carpet to match the quality of the rest.”

I was trying to protect his budget, but clients who know what they want are different from ones who do things just because they want to save a penny here and a penny there. With such clients, I respect the focus on the ultimate quality rather than focusing on sticking to a certain budget.

photos | Phillip Ennis

Theo Kalomirakis:
A Personal History of Home Theater

What was the installation process like?

Rayva doesn’t do the actual installation, so when we started the project, we reached out to Nick Di Clemente from Elevated Integration. When Nick introduced himself to the client, he found out the client had additional needs. This was a newly renovated home and he needed whole-house audio as well. So Nick got the contract for the rest of the house, which he was very happy about.

What, for you, are some of the highlights of this space?

The client selected our Origami design. The good thing about the triangles of this design is that they allow flexibility of placement. We were able to use Wisdom Audio speakers—and there were lots of them and they’re big—without any conflicts with the room design.

This theater has a very different, outside-the-box design. In home theater, you expect to see columns and panels repeating themselves. You expect moldings that are gilded and wall panels that upholstered with brocade fabric. With Rayva, we tried to move away from that aesthetic because we wanted to change the perception of what a home theater can look like.

That’s why we bring in artists and architects that aren’t related to home theater to create the Rayva designs. With our guidance, their visions can be turned it into something that’s functional and can work with a variety of room sizes.

Also, this theater is designed with wall-to-wall acoustical treatments specified by Steve Haas’s company SH Acoustics. Steve worked hard to get the best possible distribution of acoustical treatments within the limitations of the design. When the theater was finished, he spent two days calibrating the Wisdom Audio speakers to the room specifications and made the theater sound unbelievable.

What was the client’s reaction when he saw the finished theater?

The client is very happy. He told me his kids practically live in that space.

Was there anything else you wanted to mention?

I want to tell you something—we put pictures of the theater on Houzz, where we can monitor which ones resonate with end-users. And we were surprised to find out that we got a lot of likes for the interior but got more likes for the marquee outside. Go figure! I didn’t take that as an insult but as an indication that people still relate to having a marquee outside a home theater. So, we will be creating a marquee as a Rayva product and will make it available as an accessory.

Michael Gaughn—The Absolute Sound, The Perfect Vision, Wideband, Stereo Review, Sound & Vision, The Rayva Roundtable, marketing, product design, some theater designs, a couple TV shows, some commercials, and now this.

A Tribeca Trendsetter

showcase

ACHIEVING SERENITY

INSIDE THE ULTIMATE HOME ENTERTAINMENT SPACE

LUXURY MADE EASY

A Tribeca Trendsetter

The desire for a casual movie-watching space in this apartment’s main living area led to the creation of a high-performance hideaway theater

by Michael Gaughn
November 29, 2018

Ed Gilmore casually bringing some shots of a project he’d done in Tribeca up on his computer monitor was a major “a-ha” moment for me. The first shot showed a stylish, obviously comfortable living area that also served as a billiards room, dining room, and kitchen. The second showed the same room transformed into a home entertainment space a lot of people would die for. That, a completely intuitive part of me screamed, perfectly represents the new paradigm.

Others apparently agree with that conclusion because people just won’t leave Ed alone about the Tribeca space. Ironically, even he admits it’s not perfect—but it’s getting there, as the client invests more and more in turning what was initially a whim into a room that can blow a typical movie theater out of the water.

Having since had a chance to actually visit the space, and to shoot some video there, I recently circled back around with Ed to talk about all things Tribeca.

People seem to love that installation because it says that almost any room can now be transformed into a legitimate entertainment space.

I think what we did was to, in a minimally invasive way, create a home theater experience in a room that, if you looked at it from any angle, you would immediately say it couldn’t be done there. There was just no way.

Aesthetically, the room had already been designed before you came into the picture. How were you able to navigate those waters?

We just needed to be open and try to find really unique solutions that would both satisfy a high-end level of performance as well as maintain a certain aesthetic value the client wanted us to maintain, and be true to the bones of that room. I don’t think that’s any rare talent. The issue was that he had interviewed a lot of other AV guys who told him right off the bat, “No, we won’t do that.” And that wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear. So we were lucky enough to be able to convince him that we could do it, and it could be compelling.

Tribeca video | Alyssa Neece
photos & Sound Advice video | John Frattasi

“We needed to be open and try to find unique solutions that would both satisfy a high-end level of performance as well as maintain a certain aesthetic value the client wanted us to maintain, and be true to the bones of that room.”

—Ed Gilmore

a retractable screen, ceiling speakers, and a projector on a lift allow the apartment’s main living area to be transformed into a better-than-movie-theater entertainment space

A Garden of Immersive Delights

In the Service of the Senses

Your Home is Your Canvas

That communal area wasn’t supposed to be the main entertainment space, right?

Right. The den is the room where he really sits and watches most of his TV. That was the room he wanted to spend some money on. This other room was kind of an experiment for him.

But as he saw it implemented, immediately he thought, “I’m going to sink some more money into this room.” And that’s exactly what he did. That’s what he did with the Kaleidescape Strato, that’s what he did with the Steinway Lyngdorf, and what he’s about to do with projection, by upgrading the projector there as well.

Are people fascinated by that room because it’s a kind of outlier or because it represents a trend?

I think it’s a little bit of both. It’s tapping into a trend, that trend being that people aren’t interested in having dedicated rooms for specific purposes like a theater, or even a dedicated music room.

There’s also an aspirational aspect to it as well. It resonates with people because it’s well done. I mean, it’s a really beautiful space. And it’s well thought out. And that goes back to the developer, who did a really nice job on that building. The dimensions of the room are great, and it has this wonderful warm feeling to it without really needing much in terms of other types of interior design.

But these particular clients do have taste, and they’ve been around the block a few times in terms of renovations. He is a serial renovator. And so their choice of artwork, their choice of furnishings—those little details that they have there are great. And I think that resonates with a lot of people, too.

If luxury is really about details—about somebody caring enough to make sure every last thing is done right—Tribeca would seem to qualify.

I think you and I agree on this, right? Attention to detail is really what matters in a luxury space. People have asked me about what luxury is, and I typically say that it needs to be inspirational. But that doesn’t mean it really needs to be noticeable. It’s something that kind of unfolds. And by the time you realize what’s happening, you’re kind of taken by surprise by it. And it’s organic—it feels like it was always part of what was meant to be there.

about Gilmore’s Sound Advice

Since 1991, Ed Gilmore and Gilmore’s Sound Advice, Inc. have been designing, deploying, and servicing hundreds of integrated systems by strictly adhering to a word-of-mouth recommendation policy. Typical systems consist of audio & video distribution, home theater, lighting & shading systems, enterprise-level network/WiFi & telephony, along with HVAC & security systems integration. In 2016, Sound Advice created one of the most unique showroom & event spaces in New York City.

Deschamps on Design: Star Gazing

Deschamps on Design | Star Gazing

“Design your own universe and control everything from brightness to color to timing within a millisecond with the flick of an app”

more Deschamps on Design

Creating with Light

Origins

Star ceilings have evolved from being the epitome of home theater kitsch to highly sophisticated, customizable, and tasteful additions to premium private viewing spaces

by Maria Deschamps
June 7, 2022

Fiber-optic ceilings were once so pervasive that they came to be seen as a tacky clichè and have long been out of favor in high-end home theaters. Overused and often just slapped on, they were, as home theater expert Theo Kalomirakis says, “the lazy man’s solution to ceiling design.” But star ceilings are coming back into favor with interior designers, thanks mainly to tremendous changes in the technology behind them.

Speaking from my own experience, most people planning a dedicated home theater now request a star ceiling. Perhaps it’s to counteract the claustrophobia of the COVID lockdown or maybe it’s because of the renewed interest in space travel. In any case, star gazing has always been cathartic. I think back to my first visit to Greece and seeing all the outdoor theaters, which took my breath away. According to Theo, people in Greece attend outdoor entertainments not so much because of the movie or spectacle that’s playing but because of the environment it’s being played in. Similarly, I often reminisce about my visit to the Pantheon in Rome and looking up into the beauty and majesty of its iconic dome with its open aperture at the top that looks directly out at the sky above.

When architect John Eberson started designing atmospheric movie palaces in the early 1920s, his concept was to bring the outdoors in. He started by simply painting clouds and stars on domed ceilings, which evolved into making the stars twinkle and using projection to give the impression the clouds were moving. It was entertaining just to be in his theaters and gaze up.

Star panels are the contemporary equivalent of that experience, consisting of thin strands of fiber-optic cable that carry light to each tiny star. The size, shape, and intensity of the light points determine the number of strands needed—anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand.

As for what’s new in star ceilings, customizable panel sizes and shapes are just the beginning. No more being limited to fixed options, no more big control boxes (which were huge compared to the small, sleek 3.5″ x 5.5″ ones today), no more heat, and no more noise. How about showing your horoscope signs, your favorite planets,

The star ceiling in the Great Hall of the Grand Rex theater, Paris, designed by John Eberson

shooting stars, or the entire Milky Way? Place each item where you want and decide what color you want it to be. Design your own universe, and control everything from brightness to color to timing within a millisecond with the flick of an app.

Speaking with Epixsky, a leading producer of fiber-optic star panels, I discovered their business has expanded tremendously—partly because they now design ceilings for the medical sector as a way to calm patients during medical or dental procedures. Their latest development is airbrushing custom designs onto panels. In a luxury private cinema, adding something like a contemporary family crest could help make the ceiling design exclusive.

The latest star ceilings are functional as well as decorative. Not only do they house and support the strands that carry the light, they can also act as an acoustic panel to absorb sound—which is perfect for a home theater ceiling! The panels can also be customized to fit additional recessed lights or ceiling speakers. The fabric used to cover them is acoustically transparent so the sound of speakers hidden behind them can be clear and concise, and you can choose fabric from a variety of colors and textures.

You can’t just tack one of these panels onto your ceiling, though, and expect it look integrated into the design of the room. The details around the panels need to be meticulously attended to. Framing the ceiling with coves of indirect lights is one approach. Creating outlines with moldings or linear LED strip lights is another. Adding movement to the design—a twinkle here and a shooting star there—can be a really subtle touch, while at the same time ensuring that the ceiling remains decorative and not a distraction or the focus of attention.

Authenticity in design is very important to me. I prefer to use items made by artisan craftsmen, natural materials, and original art instead of mass-produced synthetic materials and lazy trompe l’oeils. But since it would be prohibitive at best to have an indoor theater where you can actually look up at the night sky or that recreates the Pantheon’s oculus, opting for a sophisticated, customized star ceiling can take you almost all the way there, lighting up your home cinema with your own private universe.

Maria Deschamps is a certified Interior Designer, IDC, NCIDQ, APDIQ and has been designing home theaters and media rooms since the year 2000. She also designs high-end residential, restaurant, and commercial spaces, and is a partner at TKG, the Theo Kalomirakis Group.

This rendering of one of Maria’s recent home theater designs features a fiber-optic ceiling with animated shooting stars

CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO ENLARGE

The oculus at the crest of the dome of the Roman Pantheon, shown in an 18th century painting

Achieving Serenity

ACHIEVING SERENITY

How an impossible private cinema came to bloom in the Palm Springs desert

by Michael Gaughn
updated April 24, 2023

Serenity is a freshly minted 22,000 sq. ft. home nuzzling a golf course in Indian Wells, CA. Done in the kind of Mies-gone-wild style that’s become a signature look in expansive post-millennium west coast homes, it features a wide-open floorplan that’s as much about outdoors as indoors, and hinges its effect on a seamless flow between those two worlds.

The whole is infused with a very contemporary sense of play, best evinced on the lower level, which gives off a distinctive carnival vibe, with guests free to stroll from the sports-car collection past a two-story rotating wine tower and onto an elaborate dance floor, then pass a Zen garden on their way to the private cinema—a cinema, by the way, that really shouldn’t exist. And yet there it is.

Everything about Serenity, from broad strokes to light touches, is an effective extension and expression of the somewhat diametric dispositions of its owners—he a businessman with an engineering background, she an artist. And that melding of creativity and ingenuity, of art and technology, may be best realized in the theater, a space brimming with know-how, but all of it invisible, and all in the service of entertaining and being entertained.

photos | William MacCollum
video | Geoff Franklin, Be Film Inc.

CINELUXE SHOWCASE

right rear | the car collection & wine tower
foreground | the dance floor
left rear | the cinema

The couples’ expectations for the space were all reasonable enough—but seriously stretched the limits of what current tech can do. They wanted a theater with exceptional picture and sound where they could watch movies without distractions but that didn’t disrupt the no-boundaries flow of the rest of the home, allowing guests to dip in and out freely. They also wanted it to offer a rather generous view of the adjacent Zen garden so the room wouldn’t feel like an outlier in the home’s defining indoor/outdoor gestalt.

Most of the above goes well against the grain of the widely accepted criteria for creating a home cinema, dicta chiseled in stone, sacrosanct and inviolable:

The room must be sealed off, admitting no light or sound. Reflective hard surfaces like glass and metal are forbidden. There must be generous, unimpeded wall space for the placing of speakers for surround sound. Strict symmetry is king. And no Zen gardens.

left | the subterranean Zen garden with a glass-floor walkway on the main level, above, and an open-air courtyard glimpsed at the far end
right | the cinema

left | the subterranean Zen garden with an open-air courtyard glimpsed at the far end, and with a glass-floor walkway on the main level, above
right | the cinema

The Serenity theater checks none of those boxes. In fact, it seems to thumb its nose at the age-old practices. It’s not that the owners were deliberately trying to transgress—they just wanted what they wanted. And what they wanted meant breaking almost all the rules.

walls & bridges

The hardest request to honor was the seemingly contradictory desire to have a movie theater-quality experience while also keeping the room open to everything around it. While it is possible to create a wide-open space that can deliver decent enough picture and sound, the light and noise from beyond its perimeter will inevitably compromise performance. The solution was to employ two retractable curtain walls, which allow the space to function both as a dedicated theater and as a more casual media room that readily welcomes strolling passersby.

Those walls also helped address another significant problem. The gated community where Serenity rests only allows for single-story dwellings, but the owners wanted their entertainment spaces to exist separate from their living area on the main floor, so they dug down instead. But to fend off subterranean gloom, large courtyards were placed fore and aft of the surface level to provide generous sunshine.

That sunshine, as well as the artificial light from outside the theater, would easily wash out the image on the theater screen—an issue mostly resolved by closing the curtain walls. But what about being able to watch something when everything’s open, which was a big part of the ask? The traditional go-to would have been a projector/screen combo but, as Serenity integrator Jeff Williams relates, they would have needed a projector “the size of a small Volkswagen” to generate a picture bright enough to be seen in all that light. The answer was a 185-inch Samsung video wall, which creates a cinema-sized image viewable under just about any conditions.

Serenity is just one instance of the growing demand for flexible entertainment spaces that can achieve the picture and sound quality of a dedicated theater room while fitting into the more open flow of contemporary homes

design touches in the theater include dramatic uplighting between the seat rows, a bar area in the back, and custom-made Elite HTS love seats in red Valentino leather to match the color of the husband’s favorite Ferrari

PROJECT TEAM

architect | Mark Whipple AIA

project manager | Ty Harrison
Whipple Russell Architects

integrator | Jeff Williams
Jeff Williams Inc.

audio consultant | Robert Melendez
Triad Speakers

audio calibration | Chuck Back
Trinnov Audio

A bigger challenge was how to get a full-blown 41-channel Dolby Atmos surround system to achieve peak performance in a theater where almost all the wall space was off limits to speakers—and where two of the walls are just curtains. Sure, there was enough room to accommodate everything up in the soffits and ceiling—just. But for the Atmos experience to work, a decent number of the speakers need to be down at ear level. It took some deft high-tech sleight of hand to make that happen.

Of the 35 Triad speakers deployed, 19 were designated for ear-level listening—a statement that sounds counterintuitive as hell given the conditions. But the Trinnov Altitude processor tasked with juggling the theater’s sound includes a function that can create the impression of a speaker being heard from somewhere other than its physical location. It’s similar to the illusion of stereo, where sounds seem to come from an area between the speakers. Here, the sound, run through the Altitude, can be rejiggered to create a convincing sense of being at ear height.

And this was all accomplished without leaving any clues that almost the whole of the soffit and ceiling is crawling with gear. As project manager Ty Harrison relates, “The designer obviously knows, and the homeowner knows, but people coming in for the first time would never know that.”

The Altitude also gets most of the credit for the room being able to have impressive sound whether the walls are open or closed. The processor creates detailed profiles of the space in both sonic configurations and then uses them to compensate for any of the various gremlins that could compromise performance. The theater changes automatically to the appropriate soundscape whenever someone triggers the wall.

testify

The execution of the Serenity theater is unique, but the impulse behind it isn’t. Serenity is just one instance of the growing demand for flexible entertainment spaces that can achieve the picture and sound quality of a dedicated theater room while fitting into the more open flow of contemporary homes. That wasn’t possible until recently, and this room would have to rank as one of the best executions to date.

And it is was all done without making it look like a science project but instead a very organic part of a very ambitious and elaborate but still, in its way, minimalist design. “It was really important,” says Harrison, “to focus the visual on just the video wall and the atmosphere of the room rather than walking into, you know, Speaker Central.”

The room apparently serves its purpose well. The owners make it a point to do all their viewing there. According to Harrison, “They don’t even have a TV in their master bedroom. At the end of the day, they instead like to come down and unwind and watch a movie. That’s when they spend their most time together.”

The husband has made it part of another daily ritual as well. “At lunchtime,” says Williams, “he goes downstairs, makes a toasted cheese sandwich, and sits and watches The Golf Channel and one news broadcast. Religiously.”

As for whether Serenity measures up as a “true” home theater, Williams relates the time a fellow integrator drove from Scottsdale, four hours away, to show the room to a client: “The integrator, who does extremely high-end homes, said it was the best theater he had ever sat in.”

Taking all of the above into account leads to a simple and obvious conclusion: It’s now possible to dream big dreams confident they can be realized, completely and without compromise. The recently impossible is now very much possible.

Is Serenity the future? No—it’s the here and now.

photos | William MacCollum
video | Geoff Franklin, Be Film Inc.

a closer look

the speaker system

THE SOUND PROCESSING

THE HOME AUTOMATION

Noah Kaplan–Bringing Entertainment & Design Together Again, Pt. 4

Noah Kaplan—Bringing
Entertainment & Design
Together Again, Pt. 4

by Michael Gaughn

capturing the spirit of the ’70s, without the kitsch, at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

a custom python-skin design for Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon “The Chef”

“We’ve got to show that technology companies today are as interested in how things look, how they’re sourced, how they make you feel,
and how they’re end-of-lifed”

The interview concludes with a glimpse of a time to come when entertainment tech will once again fully embrace innovative design

April 21, 2022

As we wrap things up, Leon Speakers‘ Noah Kaplan neatly brings things full circle, weaving together all the threads he laid out in the previous three installments. The focus here is primarily on the future—not just of Leon but of home entertainment in general as it continues to spread out, in increasingly sophisticated forms, throughout the home, and thanks to more nuanced and responsive technology and design, evolves from an often awkward add-on to an integral and stylish part of the domestic environment.

—M.G.

You mentioned that the mandate with Muscle Shoals was do to a ‘70s-based design. That era’s kind of dangerous because no matter how you approach it, it can quickly descend into kitsch. How do you avoid that when you’re approaching a style like that or something similar?

That’s where subtlety plays in. We always call it a drip. We don’t ever want to go into full IV mode. I’m super conscious of that when we’re designing. Our designers are working on stuff usually five to ten years, so we’re always designing for ten years on. We have some super crazy concepts, but we’re making sure it’s a very slow progression. So first let’s add new materials, then a color choice or a fabric choice. And then let’s add design options, like trim options. But in most cases still, especially in American design, we’re working with very subtle and simple styles.

Now, we do make sound sculptures that are full-scale expressions of ourselves. And the customer who wants a sound sculpture is somebody who loves art, so they want that piece to pop. Another customer might want a product that makes them feel something at the same time that it fits the right aesthetic of their home design, but they also don’t want it to yell at them. So it’s a tightrope still, giving people what they want while also pushing the boundaries just a little. Because you always know who the customers are who want you to totally trash boundaries and just create. But that’s three or four times a year compared to the ten thousand times a year when we create for the people who need stuff everyday.

Theo Kalomirakis always reminds me that during the pinnacle of his career, in the ‘90s, he had client after client who just wanted to play. And if he could sympathetically get them on the same wavelength with him, that they were going to be creative and were going to play, that’s when he did his best work. By the 2000s, those people started to go away. Most of his clients just wanted glorified screening rooms and it wasn’t creative anymore.

I like those words “sympathetic” and “play”—two of the things we try to find all the time now. If I get to get on the phone with a customer, which is rare, look out. We’re goin’ there. Like when we just did that thing for Raekwon, who wanted that python skin and so I’m finding that python skin. That’s what we want. That’s a desire. I had a conversation with a customer this week who’s moving to an amazing place in LA but has no idea what to put in there. She showed me with her phone, and she had not one piece of art. And so I’m, like, you wanna play?

So, like Theo, I’m always looking for that one person who wants to go and dig deep. Because I think intrinsically all people do. We’re ready to reconnect with a little bit more of our soul; we want to find something that makes us feel good. And what I really love about what Theo does—he’s creating an escape room, a playhouse. Sometimes we get too serious about stuff. It’s not that serious, and you should be allowed to make mistakes. You should be allowed to build something and then not even like it. We’ve built whole apartments with customers and, not because of us, they didn’t like it when it was done. And, you know what? No worries. Let’s find what you do like.

I feel like we have such a creative industry. All the people we work with are super creatives, and willing and able to start the conversation of, “Hey, I know that’s what you think you might want, but did you know?” Because a lot of people don’t have awareness. And here’s the scary thing: If I asked a hundred people to name five artists, I don’t think they could. Some people might say Van Gogh, but how about one that’s alive? If I asked them to name one architect, I’m not sure they would know. I don’t judge people for that. I just know there’s so much more depth out there than that. So like Theo, I’m always want to play with those thoughts as a way to find someone’s soul. And that’s a really deep, interesting way to design and build stuff for people. That’s what’s cool about architecture and art and design to me.

Let’s talk about the next 3 to 5 years. How do see things playing out, and how would you like to see things play out? What do you think are the trends?

I think the trend actually is going to be in learning—learning like how different trades interact with each other, because as technology infiltrates everything, we’re actually shifting really deeply into IT. And you hear a lot about wellness—about Kelvin lighting and how it affects your health and your mood. That’s a great trend. I want to work in an industry that makes you feel better, not worse. And so I love these multidisciplinary things happening.

I was on a call the other day with an integrator who was saying the usual thing of, “We’re always called in last, so we’ve got to train designers and architects to bring us in early.” And I said, “What have we got to train you on?” We have to start learning more about the terminology of architecture and design, the history of design. Through that, we’ll get to this next zone where design and technology are finally remarried. We’ve got to show that technology companies today are as interested in how things look, how they’re sourced, how they make you feel, and how they’re end-of-lifed. We talk often enough about how this can be a sustainable practice. It doesn’t have to be all about growth and this maniacal big, bigger, bigger.

The future will be more about the wellness of an overall space, which is super interesting to me. So I’m working closely with an architect out of Paris, Daniel Pouzet, who’s one of my favorite designers—a very naturalistic designer. And he’s really thinking about what is going to make the client’s life better through design. So I became obsessed with the idea of, if you see an object that makes sense to

Kaplan introduces a Leon Ente SoundTile speaker system created in collaboration with artist Mike Han

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

this sound sculpture, custom designed for an Ann Arbor, Michigan cafe, won a BORN award for its combination of functionality and aesthetics

Kaplan with Theo Kalomirakis

Theo Kalomirakis |
A Personal History of Home Theater

a sampling of Daniel Pouzet left | the Villas at the Nay Palad Hideaway in the Philippines right | the Nest Rest and the Swing Rest

you and resonates with you and makes you feel better, it’s going to add to your overall wellness, it’s going to relieve your stress. We can’t overlook how much stress we’ve all been under. And everyone’s spending so much time at home. That trend’s going to continue.

So what are we going to put our energy into? Are we just going to keep buying commodity things off Amazon? Probably for a few more years, but eventually we’re going to let all that stuff go and think about those few things we actually need or desire. So I’m thinking about everything from how the digital landscape is changing, about how we’re going to present NFTs and new art forms all the way to simple things like what materials can we build with that can be additively manufactured—printed on demand. We’re meeting with a company in Ireland to help us with additive manufacturing because I want to create a sustainable business that doesn’t have a giant environmental footprint.

The trend that makes me nervous is when I see conglomeration, which can hurt the spirit of design, because something that was super important to a founder can become unimportant to another group of people. So I hope there’s a move to independent businesses, creative companies flourishing, small, new entrepreneurs coming up—the next person who can inspire us to repropagate ourselves. But in terms of any trend toward one thing, we all know that the trend is moving in the direction of design.

Deschamps on Design: Origins

Deschamps on Design | Origins

“I not only loved movies.
I loved the experience of
moviegoing.”

Maria’s retail design work for Montréal Luminaire & Quincaillerie

Maria initiates her column on home entertainment design by tracing the path that led to her decision to specialize in theaters & media rooms

by Maria Deschamps
March 2, 2022

I’m an interior designer who focuses almost exclusively on home theaters and media rooms. Since that’s not a typical career path, I thought I’d begin this series of columns by describing the moments in my life that inspired me to take that journey. Those diverse experiences have given me a unique perspective on entertainment spaces—one I’m eager to share here going forward.

I was 11 when I decided I wanted to be a designer. It was one summer during my first trip to California, a breath of fresh air for an upstate New York girl.

I loved Hollywood and Disneyland, and especially enjoyed the Missions, the Danish town of Solvang, and the famous Madonna Inn. But Hearst Castle was the place where it really hit me. The immense entrance, the high opulent ceilings, the oversized chandeliers, the multiple rooms, the magnificent carpets and prominent artwork—everything was impressive!

I had so many questions: Who lived here? How much time and money does it take to build a home like this? How do they get the lights to work in that pool? The first thing I did after I returned home was draw a floorplan of my bedroom. I wanted to start designing right away.

At that time, we lived within walking distance of a movie theater, the Riviera in North Tonawanda, where I spent many Saturday afternoons. We would arrive early and I would absorb the design and architecture with my box of Cracker Jack in hand. I not only loved movies, I loved the experience of moviegoing.

Ever since that summer, I’ve paid attention to things like detail, lighting, space planning, and strategies for traffic flow. I’ve been inspired by architects throughout the United States and around the world, and have had the chance to travel across the US and to visit Central America, Europe, and Asia, where I’ve experienced some amazing spaces.

My education in San Francisco was an experience in itself. What better city to start building a foundation for a design career? After college at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, I began my career in Reno, NV but soon followed my heart to Montréal.

There, I focused on commercial design. I began as a pencil-pusher for a retail design firm, which gave me the basic footing for learning how to customize anything in an interior space. I went on to manage and direct design departments for three major international retailers. This allowed me to understand roll-outs, budgets, branding, and the importance of design impact and the environmental effect on consumers.

The turning point came when I designed my own dedicated home theater. That theater became my escape room. I was totally immersed in the environment and really appreciated and absorbed whatever I was viewing. I wanted to be able to design that same kind of environment for others. I wanted to design exclusive environments.

It was while I was submerging myself in home theater design that I discovered Theo Kalomirakis. I became an admirer and followed his work. We met a few years ago at the custom integrators trade show, CEDIA, and soon after decided to establish The Theo Kalomirakis Group (TKG). It’s an honor and pleasure to be part of TKG with both Theo and Steve Haas, who is a master in his specialty of acoustics. This is truly an exciting new venture.

I look forward to offering design insights here on new trends in home entertainment, including things like circadian lighting and video walls, as well as sharing experiences on my projects, which I hope will motivate and inspire your own ventures.

The Riviera Theater in
North Tonawanda, New York

The Roman pool at Hearst Castle

“The turning point came when I designed my own home theater.
That theater became my escape room.”

Theo Kalomirakis: A Personal History of Home Theater

The man who started it all offers an exclusive look at his career as the unrivaled master of home theater design

by Michael Gaughn
March 6, 2022

In the three-part interview gathered on this page, Theo provides a snapshot of each phase of his career, dipping into the past not so much to reminisce as to show the continuing relevance of the core ideas that have driven his designs. At a time when home theaters are going through a tremendous resurgence—especially at the highest end of the market—fueled largely by the pandemic-driven desire to have domestic retreats from the world, Theo’s efforts provide fertile ground for conceiving new ways to create unique and captivating movie-watching spaces within the home.

Part 1 | The 1980s

“Because he’s the guy who invented home theater and remains beyond doubt its preeminent designer, people tend to assume Theo Kalomirakis’ interest lies primarily or solely in the design side of things. And if you only know his reputation or his work but not his history, that’s a natural enough assumption to make.

“But digging a little deeper goes a long way toward explaining why, despite all the changes in technology, entertainment, and taste over the years, Theo’s theaters continue to be the most evocative and compelling expression of the idea of watching films at home. The explanation—which really isn’t a secret, just obscured by the dash and brilliance of his designs—is that everything he does springs from his unusually deep passion for everything movies.” read more

Part 2 | The 1990s

“The 1990s saw Theo Kalomirakis create and hone not just the style but all the various techniques that would forever define home theater design. And it all happened within his first few commissions—which is especially impressive when you realize that he leapt into the field with no formal training as an interior designer.

“It was the decade not just of his earliest work—which quickly established his reputation and caused him to be sought out by millionaires, billionaires, movie stars, sports figures, and business and political leaders—but of his first international commissions and his first coffeetable book, Private Theaters, which features, among other work, the Ziegfeld, Uptown, and Gold Coast theaters discussed here.” read more

Part 3 | 2000 to the Present

“Theo and I have agreed to disagree over how to approach the third part of this interview. I had wanted to focus on the theaters he’s created since the turn of the millennium, which include some of the most striking and innovative of his career, most of which have never been published and none of which have been collected in a book. But he was adamant that we should focus instead on his various efforts to create a broader-market brand for himself. I relented for two reasons: Because I knew he would make the subject compelling and because, as he rightly said, ‘Talking about projects is misleading regarding how my career developed, and I know my career better than anybody.'” read more

a sampling of Theo’s work

photos by Phillip Ennis and Randall Michleson

Theo’s second coffeetable book includes more about many of the theaters he discusses in the interviews, which set the standard for private cinema design

Theo Kalomirakis: A Personal History of Home Theater, Pt. 3

Theo Kalomirakis:
A Personal History of Home Theater, Pt. 3

related features

Theo Kalomirakis: A Personal History
of Home Theater, Pt. 1

Theo Kalomirakis: A Personal History
of Home Theater, Pt. 2

Theo Kalomirakis: A Personal History
of Home Theater—Complete

Theo’s Blue (above) and Broadway (below) home theater designs for Owens Corning

the Exquisite Theaters logo

a column grille for TK Living

The 2000s are mainly a story of Theo’s efforts to have his reputation resonate in the larger market beyond the home theater world

by Michael Gaughn
February 7, 2022

Theo and I have agreed to disagree over how to approach the third part of this interview. I had wanted to focus on the theaters he’s created since the turn of the millennium, which include some of the most striking and innovative of his career, most of which have never been published and none of which have been collected in a book. But he was adamant that we should focus instead on his various efforts to create a broader-market brand for himself. I relented for two reasons: Because I knew he would make the subject compelling and because, as he rightly said, “Talking about projects is misleading regarding how my career developed, and I know my career better than anybody.”

—M.G.

When did you first feel the urge, or need, to brand yourself in the larger market?

I began shifting my attention away from creating custom designs around 2000 because other designers were beginning to do home theaters, so that stopped being the exclusive territory of my company. But I had actually first come up with the idea of creating home theater products as a way to stay ahead of the game back at the start of the ‘90s with my first company, Theater Design Associates. Even though that effort turned out to be premature, I never abandoned the idea.

My dream was to create a category of pre-designed and pre-packaged theaters. Companies like Cinematech, Acoustic Innovations, and AcousticSmart have done that successfully within the AV industry but I wanted to reach out to the world beyond the industry. I found a way to do that with the help of large organizations such as Owens Corning, Disney, and IMAX, which had the means, name recognition, and brand awareness. They gave me the opportunity to access that larger market where my name was relatively obscure.

How do some of your other efforts like ESPN fit into all this?

Companies like ESPN, Hammacher Schlemmer, Henredon, and Roche Bobois approached me over the years to help them develop home theater-related products but there was always some obstacle. With ESPN, the product didn’t even make it out of the lab because it was too high-end. The electronics they were considering for the

entertainment console would have retailed for over $80,000, which would have extremely limited sales.

Has part of the problem been that the market wasn’t ready for what you were offering—that you were thinking well ahead of where the market was?

On the one hand, I think that was the problem. On the other, I think I was unrealistically optimistic, and I made mistakes. But I believe I now know what didn’t work with each of the partnerships.

With Owens Corning, they thought a home with a theater would be more attractive than one without, so they spent millions to develop a line of inexpensive, all-inclusive theaters. The builders they targeted weren’t the big, custom ones that do one or two large homes a year but the ones that build hundreds of homes a year. The biggest mistake we made—and I share the blame—was that we aimed at the lowest possible price for a theater—$40,000 for homes that sold for around $250,000. But we found out at the Atlanta Builders Show in 2000 that most of those homes only had two bedrooms. What self-respecting parent would kick their kids out of the second bedroom to put a theater in it? Owens Corning also offered the option of having the theater in the basement but that didn’t increase the market size enough.

Your next big collaboration was with Disney, but that wasn’t until a few years later, right?

That began in 2008 and went until 2011. A group of Disney executives came to a lecture I was giving to designers at the Pacific Design Center. They were looking for licensees to help them launch co-branded products for the luxury market under a new brand called the Disney Signature Collection. They told me they wanted to appeal to a more affluent segment of consumers who liked the idea of being associated with the Disney brand but “without the Mickey Mouse ears.” The other Signature licensees developed products such as fabrics and pottery, while I was offered the opportunity to develop a line of plug & play entertainment furniture that had the necessary electronics already built in.

We conducted numerous design meetings where the Disney team and I would sketch out and exchange ideas. We also spent months in China looking for factories to produce the furniture. Everybody opened their doors to Disney, which was fun to watch. That was a very creative period of my life. I was impressed by how organized and methodical they were about defining and developing a product.

As with Owens Corning, Disney wanted a bigger market than just the AV industry, and I related to that. We rented a showroom at the heart of the furniture market, in High Point, North Carolina, where we presented the collection to retailers. And we hired marketing directors from the industry who introduced the collection to all the major furniture stores.

At the time, it seemed like the collection was going to be a home run for you. Why do you think it didn’t catch on?

What we found out was something the furniture industry already knew—very few store owners want to deal with electronics. So most of them waited to see if other retailers would buy into it. They didn’t want to be first to stick their toe in a pool they weren’t very familiar with. As a result, Disney started losing interest and slowed down its marketing support. I think I was the last licensee to pull out. I realized then that even a strong brand isn’t enough to capture a new market.

Your next couple of projects seemed to keep you in China almost constantly for a couple of years.

I had met a lot of people while I was traveling there for Disney, including Stevie Ng, who is still a good friend. He was involved in the Chinese AV industry and knew about my efforts to develop pre-designed theaters. As the Disney business was winding down, he asked if I would be interested in designing theaters for his company, Alpha Technologies of Shanghai. We partnered with a strong AV dealer/distributor, Beijing AV Design, and created a company called Exquisite Theaters. We installed theaters in dealer showrooms in major cities throughout China.

Here I was again speaking to the press, inaugurating showrooms, and enjoying the experience while getting to know a new market. The theaters were meant to help sell design accessories and electronics but the problem was that the interiors required a lot of customization. Not living in China, it was hard for me to commit to working on too many of them. But the dealers didn’t seem to mind that much because the showrooms gave them a chance to give great home theater demonstrations and sell electronics.

When did you start designing IMAX theaters for the home market?

That was around that same time. Robb Report came to me and said, “We want the ultimate gift for this year to be an IMAX theater.” And IMAX said, “We’ll give you the equipment for the theater and see how the story does.” It actually created quite a stir, so IMAX decided to come up with a line of theaters, which they called IMAX Private Theatres. I worked with them to design the line, which we made available in the US but mainly in China. The theaters were spectacular but they were too expensive to sell very many. Still, it was thrilling to sit in one of them and be treated to the full-blown IMAX experience.

You did one for Seth MacFarlane, right?

Yes, that was the best IMAX theater I designed.

Is there anything you want to say about TK Living?

The major stops in my career were working with Owens Corning, Disney, and IMAX. TK Living, like Exquisite Theaters, was mainly an effort to sell home theater design accessories. To help customers create a design, I devised theater templates in Art Deco, traditional, and contemporary styles that they could use to apply different colors and finishes. Our most successful product was an extensive collection of acoustic fabrics, which my associate James Theobald still sells.

And that brings us to Rayva, which is your most recent effort to create a franchise.

Rayva is probably my final effort to create pre-designed theaters. From a product perspective, it is the most successful company I have worked with. Rayva has gotten wonderful support from its great chairman and our lead engineer, and from the dedicated team that still works for the company while I have moved to Greece. My only regret has been that we depended too much on the AV industry to sell the theaters. I believe the time has come to sell directly to end users but that requires a lot of money. Making that investment will reap huge rewards from what I and our industry have done so far for home theater. Roger Ebert wrote almost 25 years ago in the introduction to my first book, Private Theaters: “Henry Ford wanted to put a Model T in every garage. Theo Kalomirakis wants to put a theater in every home.” I was far from alone in making that happen, but Roger’s prophecy isn’t just a prophecy anymore.

A rendering of one of Theo’s designs for the IMAX Private Theatres line

click on the images to enlarge

(above) a sports-themed home theater design for ESPN, and (left) a media wall unit created for Roche Bobois

the invitation to the launch of the Disney Signature furniture collection, with examples from the Toccata and Symphony lines

a rendering of Seth MacFarlane’s IMAX home theater

Origami photos by Phillip Ennis

Rayva’s Origami theater design

Theo Kalomirakis: A Personal History of Home Theater, Pt. 2

Theo Kalomirakis:
A Personal History of Home Theater, Pt. 2

click on the images to enlarge

theater photos by Phillip Ennis

The box office (above) and foyer (below) for The Gold Coast

some of illustrator Phil Parks’ reinterpretations of posters for classic films, for Koontz’ Moonlight theater

Theo discusses the ’90s—the decade when he learned his craft, created his signature work, and gave birth to an entire industry

by Michael Gaughn
January 21, 2022

The 1990s saw Theo Kalomirakis create and hone not just the style but all the various techniques that would forever define home theater design. And it all happened within his first few commissions—which is especially impressive when you realize that he leapt into the field with no formal training as an interior designer.

It was the decade not just of his earliest work—which quickly established his reputation and caused him to be sought out by millionaires, billionaires, movie stars, sports figures, and business and political leaders—but of his first international commissions and his first coffeetable book, Private Theaters, which features, among other work, the Ziegfeld, Uptown, and Gold Coast theaters discussed below.

While much of Part 1 of our interview focused on the emerging technology that allowed Theo to indulge his passion for collecting and watching movies, the emphasis here is more on the blooming of his aesthetic, and on the succession of eager, generous clients who gave him the opportunity to introduce his exuberant showman’s flair into their homes.

—M.G.

When did you get your first commission to do a theater?

1989.

So, by the end of the ‘80s, people were starting to show a lot of interest but since you didn’t really have any training as a designer, you had to sort of learn on the job.

Exactly. I just was pushed to do it but I didn’t find my stride until the ‘90s. The first home theater was in the Hamptons. It was called The Sweet Potato. I did that one with help from industry people that used to do commercial theaters, because there was no such thing as custom integration then. At the end of the year, I left my art direction job at American Heritage and incorporated. The first day of Theater Design Associates was January 1, 1990.

So home theater really began at the beginning of 1990.

Before then, there was no such thing. I called the company Theater Design Associates because I wanted it to sound like there were a lot of people.

Besides the Sweet Potato, this other guy, Skip Bronson, who turned out to be a very good friend, said, “I want to have a theater in my house in West Hartford, Connecticut.” He drove down and saw my Roxy and became enamored with it. He said, “I want a lobby, I want a box office—I want everything.” So I did The Ritz for Skip, and immediately I got the Barry Knispel job—immediately—about 1992.

That’s the Ziegfeld, right?

Yes. That was an amazing learning experience because I was given an unlimited budget to do things no one does today—expensive millwork, expensive hand painting. I was able to work with a lunatic in furniture design, Frank Pollaro, whose work can be seen now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He does the most spectacular reproductions of antique Art Deco furniture. You cannot tell from the original. He was doing just millwork for the rest of the house and somehow we connected. I wanted to do something different, Barry wanted to do something different, Frank wanted to do something different.

You’ve said before that the best clients are the ones who have a sense of adventure or creativity or play, because they’re willing to experiment.

Absolutely. You feed off that. You can’t fall in love with someone that doesn’t love you back. It’s as simple as that. I was lucky enough in the beginning to bump into people that were my duplicates in thinking—who had the same kind of enthusiasm.

But also there was still an inherent thrill at that point in the idea of having a theater at home, so the clients were riding that wave as well.

We were explorers. We charted new territories.

Barry wanted an Art Deco theater for the Ziegfeld, so I got every Deco book I could get my hands on. And I realized I didn’t need to reinvent the wheel because there are actual visual references for everything that signifies that era. So I singled out elements from Art Deco landmarks and built a library of design elements that I synthesized in the theater. This is the theater that made me start saying that you don’t invent—you steal, but you steal creatively.

Was the Ziegfeld when you felt like you’d arrived at something?

Yes. That was absolutely the pinnacle of what I was trying to do. And it was a very abrupt rise to the top, to where you have control of your medium and you are given the opportunity to just do what’s in your mind.

With the next theater, which was The Uptown for Larry and Nora Kay in Toluca Lake, he wanted to do a lot of Deco elements from The Pantages [theater in Los Angeles]. They were available, because I had found the sources, but if I had cast them the way they are they would have been out of scale. So, in my pursuit to create details that were as good as the originals but in a scale that would fit in a theater, I found my way to what used to be called staff shops, which are the movie-studio workshops where they make set ornaments out of clay. I started going to the shop at Warner Brothers and then at 20th Century Fox, where I discovered molds. And I asked them to reproduce them in different scale because all these facilities have sculptors, and they were doing things that would fit the scale of a particular movie set.

The next theater was The Gold Coast, which I did for another incredible patron—Lloyd Wright, the nephew of Frank Lloyd Wright. It was just client after client after client that pushed me to reach out to do things that hadn’t been done before. That was the blessing of my career.

When was Dean Koontz?

That was towards the end of the nineties, but it started right away. Dean was one of my first clients but the project was huge.

Was that the biggest theater you had done to date?

Absolutely. And he was very intent on having me do a recreation of the Opera of Paris, and I loved it. He financed a trip to France, and I came back with 2,000 pictures and did drawings. There were not computers back then to do digital drawings, so it took forever. But then in the course of the first two years we shed the classical thing and

click on the image to enlarge

switched to Art Deco because his house developed slowly into a Deco house. And that’s when we veered towards Frank Lloyd Wright because he loved Wright.

Again, another client with unlimited money to put in millwork and detail and original art. He was so obsessed with this thing that he didn’t even want original posters in the theater, so he had an artist create wonderful interpretations. You would think instinctively, “What the hell are you doing recreating a poster for The Maltese Falcon or The African Queen?” First of all, we couldn’t have found all of them in three-sheet configuration, big posters. They’re perfect recreations of the era of the poster, not the original poster. They were another indication of a confluence of people who just adored movies.

How many seats were in the Koontz theater?

There were four rows—at least 16—about 20, 24. And there were balconies all around for additional seats but it was mostly for effect.

Is Seth MacFarlane’s theater bigger?

Of course. His has 40 seats.

Is that the biggest one you’ve done?

Ah, definitely.

The key differentiator between you and other designers seems to be that you create from your passion for watching and escaping into movies, which you share with your clients, while a lot of the other designers are just creating a room to watch movies in.

It could absolutely be the differentiator. I was working in conjunction with the clients, while a lot of other designers are separated from the client so while they create a room for watching movies, it’s a room the clients don’t really want. They do it because everybody has a theater. The disconnect is double—not only do many designers not do a real theater because they don’t have a passion to design it, the clients don’t have a passion for the room. The funny thing is that the demand for home theaters has exploded through the roof, but it’s lost its soul.

As you mentioned earlier, there needs to be that intense emotional bond between designer and client in order to spur something exceptional.

I would have never done anything if the clients hadn’t encouraged me. I would tell them stories about what it would be, and I had their rapt attention. “Yeah! Let’s do that.” I was like a pied piper, leading them on to something that was magical that they didn’t know how to express. They had it in them. They knew what they wanted. But I was able to articulate it for them via architecture.

They were all the same people—all the clients. They were all like children, in that they wanted to build movie palaces, they wanted to build paradise in their home. They wanted the ultimate escape, which is what I enjoy every night when I go to my own theater. When I’m there, I become Skip Bronson, Lloyd Wright, Dean Koontz, Larry Kay, Barry Knispel.

Coming Soon: Part 3—From 2000 to the Present

Theo’s hand drawing of his original conception for Dean Koontz’ home theater, inspired by the Opera of Paris. (Scroll down to see the complete original rendering.)

related features

Theo Kalomirakis | A Personal History
of Home Theater, Pt. 1

Theo Kalomirakis | A Personal History
of Home Theater, Pt. 3

Theo Kalomirakis | A Personal History
of Home Theater—Complete

an ebony cocktail-table top designed by Frank Pollaro

the original Opera of Paris concept for Dean Koontz’ theater evolved into this Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Deco design

Theo’s second coffeetable book includes more about the Moonlight and the other theaters that set the standard for private cinema design

home theater design

Cineluxe Showcase

Luxury Made Easy

A Tribeca Trendsetter

Deschamps on Design: Star Gazing

Achieving Serenity

Noah Kaplan–Bringing Entertainment & Design Together Again, Pt. 4

Deschamps on Design: Origins

Theo Kalomirakis: A Personal History of Home Theater

Theo Kalomirakis: A Personal History of Home Theater, Pt. 3

Theo Kalomirakis: A Personal History of Home Theater, Pt. 2

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