For sophisticated design with a total glam effect, Art Deco's alluring appeal defies shelf life. The iconic style, popularized since the 1930s in opulent restaurants, theaters, and luxury ocean liners, is redolent with a modernist attitude that's forever fresh, luxurious, and easy on the eye.

"If there's any one look that epitomizes theater design at its best, it's definitely Art Deco," says interior designer Berni Greene of Brian Craig Interiors LLC. Greene and designer Fran Kerzner of Design Synthesis are self-proclaimed Deco aficionados in both their personal and professional lives. So when their world-traveler clients presented them with a simple objective for their new home theater, Greene and Kerzner knew exactly how they would proceed.

"The clients asked for 'drop-dead spectacular' and provided the budget to accommodate it," Greene says. "They have very refined taste and wanted the entire house, and this room in particular, to really make a statement, yet still be comfortable and inviting."

The theater chairs are custom-upholstered in copper-hued Ultrasuede on the backs and seats, and in copper-flecked black silk on the arms. A Crestron touchscreen provides simple, intuitive control of the home entertainment system. (Click image to enlarge)

Faced with the challenge of totally updating the sprawling, 20-year-old Tudor-style estate in a suburb of Los Angeles, the interior designers obliged with an authentic Art Deco decor. The married couple and their three children maintain dual residences here and abroad, and recently purchased the mansion with the full intent of completing a top-to-bottom renovation. "Their other home is a contemporary design inside and out, so this home was a radical change," says Kerzner, who, along with Greene, was hired based on the merits of some of their previous work. "Berni and I are real devotees of Art Deco style, and when the owners expressed they loved it, too, it seemed like the perfect solution and a way to bridge the gap between the divergent styles of their two homes."

Soon after purchasing the residence, the homeowners decided the formal living room could be better utilized as a private screening room. To partner in their efforts, Kerzner and Greene called upon DSI Entertainment Systems to help transform the room into a "magical entertainment environment," says DSI's Josh Christian."The clients demanded a high-performance dedicated home theater, but Fran and Berni didn't want any large, imposing speakers or technology components to interfere with the sleek Art Deco design," Christian explains. "The solution became clear: a perforated projection screen, in-wall THX-certified speakers, and a video projector with a long-throw lens."

The space, located off a corridor leading from the main entry, was open to the entry foyer. The conversion necessitated enclosing the room as well as reworking the original entry and adding double doors. Comprising only about 400 square feet, the room was a bit tight to accommodate the multiple-rowed seating and extra-large screen the owners envisioned. Kerzner and Greene resolved the issue by creating a height differential by positioning the Macassar ebony-backed sofa on a raised box pedestal. A second level hosts four reclining theater chairs, which are arranged in a curved formation to prevent picture distortion. The addition of two swivel stools at the bar in the rear corner augments the seating capacity to nine.

Drawing inspiration from historically referenced materials and colors, Greene and Kerzner chose a palette of rich exotic hardwoods and signature Art Deco colors that gleam like an Erte sculpture. "The Macassar ebony was our starting point for the black and copper color scheme," Kerzner explains. "It was used extensively in some of the most luxurious, original Art Deco decors, and can be turned in different directions to form beautiful, natural striped and mottled patterns that almost mimic animal prints." Instead of the usual beige or silver tones, however, the team opted to pair the ebony with a lustrous shade of copper for an unexpected touch.

Handcrafted cabinetry made of lacquered Macassar ebony and highly figured anigre wood anchors the space at the front and the back of the room. The new double-doored entry, outlined in a trio of Macassar ebony arches, is incorporated into a wall of cabinetry at the rear of the room that houses the system's Runco VX-5000d projector and a pair of dual JBL Synthesis subwoofers. Similar woodworking, this time in a horizontal-banded effect, recurs as a decorative display at the front of the room directly beneath the room's focal point-a 110-inch microperforated Stewart screen. Three front-channel M&K 150 in-wall speakers are neatly concealed behind the screen, while Sonance dipolar in-wall speakers are tucked behind copper-toned, acoustically transparent fabric-covered walls. Motorized black iridescent silk curtains conceal the screen from view when not in use.

The theater's nearly 22-foot-tall raised ceiling, part of the room's original design, serves as the canvas for one of the home theater's most notable features: a fiber-optic ceiling with simulated shooting stars that activate at random intervals or via remote control. To further personalize the space, the family members' astrological constellations are represented in the ceiling starscape. The newly created stepped effect surrounding the ceiling is indicative of the crisp, symmetrical geometry that typifies Art Deco style.

Nestled in the far corner, a curved bar-fronted in vertical stripes of Macassar ebony with a Black Galaxy granite countertop-provides an intimate spot for snacks and cocktails before the show. Matching cabinetry behind the bar houses a refrigerator and provides additional storage space for barware and snacks.The newly created masterpiece is a sophisticated, yet comfortable environment that is welcoming for a variety of entertainment needs, from cocktail parties and screening events for the adults to casual get-togethers and birthday parties for the children and their friends.

DSI Entertainment
www.dsientertainment.com, 818.391.3061

Alvarado Custom Furniture (cabinetry)
323.222.0038