A complete interior update of an Old-World estate satisfies the owners’ request for fresh, cutting-edge design and a choice of entertainment venues.

What is a sleek, contemporary interior design doing within a 1920s English manor home?

According to its owners, it’s doing very well, thank you. While the exterior of this home presents a stately and elegant first impression, the interiors have transformed this venerable estate home into the ultimate modern residence with 21st-century cool decor that’s fully compatible with the family’s active lifestyle.

Resplendent in the true English manor vernacular of granite and limestone, the ambitious 2,000-square-foot addition en-larged the home’s original floor plan to more than 11,000 square feet. The Old-World facade remained intact, while the interior was fully gutted. Floors were reframed, walls were moved and windows were replaced.

To orchestrate the owners’ vision, architect James Paragano, who is well known for designing and renovating grand estate homes, was brought in to work with interior designer Patti Smith, who orches¬trated the interiors for the owners’ previous residence. Gabriel Karlis, of JD Audio & Video Design Inc., oversaw the technological design and installation.

Some of the project’s most challenging aspects involved the owners’ request for multiple entertainment centers. To that end, the first-floor dining room was retrofitted into a family room, complete with a full media setup. The basement’s multifunctional entertainment zone—including a billiards room and bar—required a major excavation and additional square footage to accommo¬date the necessary 9-foot-tall ceiling.

The new mediacentric family room, directly adjacent to the kitchen, was inspired by the wife’s request for a multi¬functional gathering space. “She preferred a flexible format—as opposed to a dedicated theater—that would accommodate everyday activities like watching movies and infor mal entertaining,” Smith says, adding that the room’s design scheme is uncluttered and unfussy, yet sophisticated at the same time. “Something streamlined and ordered, yet still warm and inviting,” says Smith of the owners’ request.

The resulting decor counters timeless transitional style with state-of-the-art technol¬ogy to produce a fresh and lively living environment. “The owners wanted all of the equipment out of sight and requested that the TV not overpower the room,” Karlis says. “The space works for everyday TV viewing, but is equipped with a stealth surround-sound system that’s simi¬lar to real home theater quality—and very near that which we installed in the entertainment center downstairs.”

Now the enlarged 550-square-foot family room accommodates a casually elegant enter¬tainment area for at least a dozen guests. The warm yet bold palette of paprika, copper and bronze sets a relaxed, informal mood that devi¬ates from the home’s neutral colors.

Fine architectural detailing, such as a coffered ceiling, lends a sense of scale and intimacy within the grand-proportioned space, while metallic-colored walls in bronze provide a glamorous backdrop for the home’s transitional furnishings. Two low-slung sofas and velvet-clad club chairs are grouped around an ottoman covered in a laminated woven fabric. The ottoman doubles as a cocktail table.