“It’s an oftentimes primal metaphor for a gentleman’s specialty retreat which can serve multiple purposes. Most of us have a certain pastime or collection that deserves to be indulged in a retreat of one’s own,” says Amy Christie, designer at Yessick’s Design Center.
Tom Poteet’s home theatreFrom pool shark to car collector to online gamer, a man’s interests determine the space that will house them. For Tom Poteet, the man cave diverged into two rooms: a main floor living room overlooking the pool, and a plush downstairs theater. “I knew I wanted a room with a bunch of TVs and a bar where my buddies and I could hang out and watch sports,” says Poteet, so both rooms are equipped with excellent sound systems and flat screens. In the man cave off the great room, two 42-inch and a 72-inch television span one wall and are controlled by an AMX remote that can also adjust the home’s lights, AC and the whole house audio system. From the ceiling, multicolored disco lights can pulse in concert with the beat of any song. The Poteets recall one Halloween when about 200 guests packed the room, dancing to the humming beat of the music and lights.
Custom cabinetry give Tom Poteet room to display his man-mentos.Custom cabinetry fills an alcove with a full wet bar, mini fridge and ice-maker, plus room to display team loyalties: a helmet each for Auburn, UGA, and the Atlanta Falcons. Poteet and his wife, Monique, came up with the room’s eclectic style. Rarely noticed, a small, sculpted monkey grasps the ceiling’s light fixture, while a rattan monkey supports a table in one corner while a vintage-looking metallic mermaid lamp fills another. Marilyn Monroe puckers up from a sizeable portrait behind the couch. Black-and-whites of other Hollywood greats usher guests downstairs to the incredible home theater where a 135-inch screen brings the visual impact of sporting events to life. Poteet imported red theater curtains from New York to line the walls and conceal the door, and ornate gold crown moulding adds dramatic flair. Two levels of black recliners, nine in all, have a perfect eyeshot of the screen, thanks to an engineer hired to determine their ideal distance and height. Rope lighting illuminates the aisles and imported theater carpet. Twelve speakers and two, 1,000-watt subwoofers create dynamic surround sound quality.
Trey White’s man cave evolved from an at-home UT football memorabilia room to an office at Athens Distributing. The theme, décor and color palette of his office man cave can be summed up in a word: orange. After relocating to a home on the lake with lots of windows, White needed wall space for all his team paraphernalia. Mary Jane Fitzgerald of Talented Interiors created the ultimate fan’s domain, recovering his two couches, which were an unsightly crimson, with pleasant orange patterned fabric and tastefully arranging his multitude of mementos.
Trey WhiteNow, small office meetings are held on a piece of the old Neyland Stadium 20-yard line White acquired in 1998 while a countdown clock slowly ticks away the minutes until the first game of the season. Among other artifacts are a 1911 letterman sweater, a UT armband from the 1920s, a vintage stadium seat cushion, an upside-down preserved alligator and a Tennesseeshaped Chattanooga license plate from the National Championship year, 1951.