Introduced in Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in 1870, and popularized by Walt Disney in 1954, the Nautilus is still the most famous of all submarines. Kirk Douglas and James Mason starred in the movie, but the novel’s menacingly sharklike vessel, with its opulent Victorian interior, was the real star, and ignited the dreams and imagination of many a youngster.

First Impressions Theme Theatres’ Jeffrey Smith inherits a theme for a home theater and creates an original masterpiece.

When Lisa Stevens brought home a Boba Fett action figure from Return of the Jedi for her boyfriend Vic Wertz, neither of them imagined that the seemingly innocuous 3-inch-tall helmeted bounty hunter would be the inspiration for one of the most impressive private shrines ever erected in honor of George Lucas’ renowned epic fantasy film saga.

When the Gorman Richardson design team was invited to build a state-of-the-art theater for a customer, they faced a major challenge. Their world-traveler clients envisioned a screening room that would feel like their own private harem, a place where they could “escape into a fanciful world.”

“We planned to do a traditional theater with stacks of seats,” the owner recalls. “Then my wife and I decided against that.” Instead, they imagined a room that did not resemble a theater—a small, intimate space that comfortably seats four to six guests.

Paul Colton knew what he wanted. Lugging a dog-eared copy of an old magazine with a picture of a stunning home theater, Colton walked into Genesis Audio & Video, which built the theater, and said, “This is what I want. Can you build this?”

Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like a night on the town in The Big Apple. Dramatic deep purple skies. Soaring skyscrapers. The spectacular, twinkling Brooklyn Bridge.

Homeowner Robert Coulombe, a professional bridge builder for 18 years, has always been smitten by the Brooklyn Bridge—so much that he made the 1883 engineering marvel the focal point of his new home theater. 

In the Land of Home Theaters, carefully crafted movie-watching spaces satisfy a wealth of psychological needs. Some people build them to ensure quality family time—a plush place where they can plop down with the kids, watch the latest DVD release and bond (it’s a sneaky, somewhat selfish tactic, but it guarantees parents will see their offspring at least one night a week).

Theaters like the ones on these pages are often found in multimillion-dollar homes. So one would never guess that above the garage in this modest home in White Bear Lake, Minn., sits a world-class theater. Here, authentic-looking accouterments inspired by the movie Tomb Raider commingle with precision audio/video to transport guests to the catacombs of ancient Egypt, or wherever the plot of the movie takes them.

“It’s rare that you meet a client like this—an enthusiast who is so excited about the project that they become engrossed in the design of the theater,” says Lance Anderson, president of Admit One. “Most of the larger projects we do are in homes where the owners consider the theater to be just another room in the house. In this case, however, the Paul and Rachel actually added a room to the house for a no-comprise home cinema.” As such, owners knew exactly what they wanted and were prepared to help execute their vision for a realistic themed theater.