Imagine a miniature underground shopping mall with brick streets and you'll get an idea of the design concepts in the opulent lower level of the 2008 Showcase House opening today in River Forest.
The sprawling basement of the 30-year-old home now features an unusual floor plan, which includes a brick-lined "street," mini movie theater (including box office and ticket booth), an English-style pub, exercise room, wine cellar and game room.
To recreate the ambiance of a shopping center, nearly all of the rooms have floor-to-ceiling glass windows and doors to make then appear to be real stores. Here are several highlights:
Enter through the glass doors from the "street" and you'll end in a marble-tiled "lobby." The entry also has a ticket booth (it doubles as housing for the electronic equipment) and a popcorn and candy "store."
Designer Gail Prauss and custom painter Charles Nitti brought the vintage Art Deco-style movie theater back to life with 1920-style columns, sconces and a stunning copper medallion on the ceiling that is a replication from an old Chicago movie house.
The base of the theater is lined with special paint that lights up with the flick of a light switch and glows when the room darkens for the movie. The theater also features six oversize leather lounge seats and a large movie screen with a state-of-the-art sound system.
The lower-level's little brick road ends with an ambitious replication of a small English pub designed by Michael FitzSimmons of Michael FitzSimmons Decorative Arts in Oak Park.
"I did not want the room to simply be a 'man cave.' The space had to function as a family-friendly environment. I wanted a kind of William Morris meets Ralph Lauren feeling, so the furniture is tufted and comfortable, with lots of leather, velvet and deep, rich colors."
The pub has a long, wooden, lounge-style bar and a seating plan for conversation, reading, relaxing, playing games or watching television. There is a mix of reproduction and antique furniture and accessories.
"The overall feeling is rich, enveloping, relaxing, subdued and clubby, but not overly masculine," FitzSimmons said. "If the room had been bigger, I might have included a pool table."
Designer Jessica Henn of the Crusiet Corp. in Chicago had a lot of fun decorating this space. The deep gray-painted walls are offset by a sparkling silver wire sculpture of a life-size vintage BMW motorcycle.
Some of the other accents include: baby booties, wire shoes; arcade game; Baccarat crystal bar and stemware; silk drapes; sofa, arm chairs and a table.
