Best Home Theater Installation

Masterpiece Theater

Tons of hidden gear combine with an obstacle course-like construction zone to create our favorite theater of the year.

Hollywood Meets Palm Beach

Home theaters can be pretty grand, but this one, designed by First Impressions Themed Theatres Inc. is probably one of the grandest. 

This 13-seat theater, named "Cinema de la Mer," almost seems as if it could seat more and comes complete with a lobby, which in and of itself would make most people's jaws drop before they even saw the main room.

A traditional home theater pushes the envelope with it's unorthodox floor plan, elaborate European woodwork and a mind-blowing sound system.
 
The ability to put aside one’s own opinion out of respect for the other party’s desires goes against the grain of human nature. It’s an evolved trait. And for the top expert in his or her field to do such a thing—especially the founder of a particular industry—well, that behavior is more than rare. It’s honorable. And brave.

Theo Kalomirakis is just this kind of brave person.

A second-story addition that takes more than two years to complete includes a library, a home office, a bar/lounge and a kids’ play area—all which revolve around this grand home theater.

When you embark on an extensive second-story addition, everything can go wrong. And will. This story, however, is about how everything went right, thanks to masterful work conducted by First Impressions Theme Theatres.

"Too much of a good thing is wonderful." Those famed words, uttered by none other than the silver screen siren Mae West, is a sentiment shared by Dan Kelleher, the owner of this Montana home theater. In fact, "Too much of a good thing" is a description the former Silicon Valley Bank chairman uses a lot when discussing his 69-acre compound in Flathead Valley, which is 15 minutes outside of Big Fork, and just around the corner from Whitefish Mountain Resort and Glacier National Park.

For their home theater, Timothy and Kelly Phelan wanted the look of a 1920s picture palace, complete with heavy red velvet theater curtains and a lot of antique gold. And like the rest of their 17,000-square-foot Colorado Springs home, they wanted their private screening room to be comfortable for them and their five children, whose ages range from 3 to 22.

Owning an ornate home theater designed in the style of a 1920s movie palace—with knockout modern technology—is enough for some people, but not for the owner of a $15-million, 26,000-square-foot Florida estate. This retired business executive envisioned adding a mini Caribbean village to his entertainment zone—one filled with shops and eateries to "wow" his friends and family.

What was originally planned as a room where the family of four would burn off stress and melt away pounds morphed into a space of another function—a place where the family of four would prop up their feet, relax, and burn very few calories.
 
“We had been in our house for 20 years and we were doing a remodel,” says the wife, adding that what started as a renovation turned into a major addition after they learned that the city wouldn’t allow them to add a second story to their pool cabana.