Private Cinema Visionaries
Since 1975

The “six degrees of separation” phenomenon is happening among Home Entertainment’s readers and home-theater aficionados. Some owners of the private screening rooms that have graced the magazine’s pages actually know one another.

A case in point is the couple who built this contemporary movie space, nestled within a woodsy family compound in New York’s Adirondack Mountains.

After the couple visited their first home theater, owned by South Florida friends Danny and Fern Toccin, they were inspired to build their own private screening room.

“We had never stepped foot in a home theater before,” says the husband. “After we experienced the Toccins’ home theater, we thought it would be great to put one in our rec center.”

The “rec” center to which the husband refers is a 5,600-square-foot contemporary addition to their historic summer home property. The freestanding structure, designed by internationally recognized New York architect Peter L. Gluck and framed in glass and Pennsylvania blue stone, serves as Fun Central for the homeowners and their visiting family and friends.

After talking with the Toccins about how their home theater came to be, the creative process and their theater designer, Jeffrey Smith, the homeowners placed a call to Smith. He owns a North Miami theater design and fabrication company named First Impressions Theme Theatres Inc., which is a one-stop, home-theater architecture and design company that also designs and manufactures its own line of theater seating and home-theater accessories, including acoustic paneling, lighting elements and concession novelties.

Home theaters can be pretty grand, but [Cinema de la Mer], 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.

The client wanted a theater that represented the Hollywood movie house elegance of old, as well as the viewing experince of a grand theater.

To project the images, First Impressions used a TITAN Reference 1080p projector from Digital Projection and a 14-foot wide Stewart CineWide screen. To get the images full-screen a TheaterScope anamorphic optical system is employed, allowing the 16x9 projector to display both 1.78:1 and 2.35:1 content with no horizontal black bars (letterbox).

To further enhance the image, First Impressions added a reflection-limiting water-white Filmport lens. These lenses are made of low-iron float glass with a multi-layer, broadband anti-reflective coating on both sides to reduce reflection and are often used in commercial cinemas.

Once upon a time, “ranch living” conjured up images of barnlike structures in a dusty, remote locale.

One of the many highlights of this home on the range—complete with lakefront views and elaborate man-made water features—is the custom home theater. “The owner wanted this to be a gift for his family,” says Don Dixon of Definitive Electronic Solutions in Jupiter, Fla., which also integrated the home’s lighting and security systems, and landscape lighting and music features. Unlike most theaters that progress with the design of the home, the homeowners waited to start building their home cinema.

"The owner didn't want the theater to distract from or delay from building the home," says Dixon. About six weeks after the home’s completion, Dixon started the building the theater. Dixon called Jeff Smith, president and owner of North Miami’s First Impressions Theme Theaters, an architectural and design company for private home cinemas, to provide interior design services. "We worked together on other projects, and I knew Jeff could deliver unparalleled quality and state-of-the-art design," Dixon says, adding that they only had 120 days to complete the theater.

"Our objective was to create a seamless display of big picture, big sound, and a Wild West thematic statement within the home’s existing architectural style," Smith says, adding that he also had to temper a masculine hunting-outdoorsy theme with a laid-back, casual feel.