By Adrian Justins
For an award-winning home cinema
The cinema in this $7.95mn, six-bedroom house in Chester, New Jersey won Best Home Theatre at the 2002 Cedia (Consumer Electronics Design and Installation Association) awards. The room’s coffered ceiling with ornate mouldings helps optimise the audio quality by preventing interference that can be caused by reflected sound waves. The cinema’s components have recently been upgraded and include a 123-inch Stewart screen, an Epson professional projector and JBL in-wall speakers and subwoofers.
For refreshments from the bar
This modern 16-bedroom villa in Marbella — on the market for €35mn — features interiors by Spanish designer Luisa Olazábal. Movie watchers can enjoy a pre-film tipple at the full-size cocktail bar before installing themselves in one of the basement cinema’s 12 raked velvet seats (main picture, above). If they are still thirsty, viewers can grab a drink from a second bar, just footsteps away at the rear of the “auditorium”. Other leisure facilities on the property include a full size bowling alley and three swimming pools.
For an Art Deco setting
This seven-bedroom English country house in Gloucestershire dates back to the 17th century but in 2006, a purpose-built entertainment barn was added with an Art Deco cinema in the basement. The work of two US-based experts, the movie theatre was designed by Theo Kalomirakis, who is renowned for creating opulent home cinemas, while known audio designer Norman Varney was responsible for the acoustics. The structure of the cinema is isolated from its reinforced steel concrete walls, helping improve sound quality by reducing vibrations. The equipment has been updated and includes a professional Sony 4K cinema projector and a 158-inch Stewart screen. The property is priced at £10mn.
For an immersive sonic experience
The cinema in this 11-bedroom villa on the Greek island of Corfu incorporates historic details, such as 130-year-old sconces made from wood and handblown glass that were first used as gas-powered lights in the Moulin Rouge, in Paris. By contrast, the cinema’s electronic components are cutting edge and include a JVC 4K projector and Panasonic Blu-ray player. To create an immersive Dolby Atmos soundscape, no fewer than 13 Bang and Olufsen wall and ceiling speakers have been installed, along with two low-frequency (bass sounds) subwoofers. The property is on the market for €25mn.
For watching movies under a starry sky
Residents settling down to watch a movie in the cinema of this spectacular waterfront home in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, will see the lights dim and the hand-painted ceiling change from a daytime sky into the Milky Way. The latter is created using an ultraviolet lamp that illuminates fluorescent surfaces in the dark. The ceiling has been designed by an acoustic engineer to move like a diaphragm, improving sound quality, while most of the in-wall speakers are hidden behind acoustically transparent Indian silk fabric. The 10-seat cinema includes a film reel design on the carpet, side tables and stage, which is in front of a huge 192-inch screen. The eight-bedroom house is on the market for $64.5mn.
Photography: Savills; Luxury Portfolio International; Stavros-Niflis/Greece Sotheby’s International Realty; Jeff Dow Photography/Luxury Portfolio International
