This Tom Trout-designed man cave boasts dark, clubby wood, a pool table, shelves for books and memorabilia, comfy chairs and, of course, a flat-screen TV. That’s pretty much all the elements required for a perfect masculine getaway.
Where Men Are Men
Sometimes a man needs a place where he can unapologetically be a man. He needs a place where sports memorabilia and trophies take the place of flower-filled vases and fluffy pillows. He needs a place where he can drink a beer with his buddies or just watch ESPN with no interruptions, surrounded by comforting mas-culine accouterments. Sometimes a man needs a man cave.
A what? A man cave is a dedicated area of a home – such as a basement, workshop, or garage – where a man can relax and be himself, says Jacksonville designer Kristi Wyndham of Kristi Wyndham Designs.
“Very often men get left out of the design concept of a home,” Wyndham adds. “I include every member of the family, including the dog. If a man cave is in the budget, we include it.”
Depending on interests, available space and budget limitations, a man cave can be anything from a small workshop in a garage to a luxurious wood-paneled study to a spacious game room with pool table and bar.
Jacksonville remodeler Tom Trout’s personal man cave is an open-air garage – it has no door – with comfortable seating, a big TV and a ceiling fan to deter bugs. It’s a space where, Trout says, “I can do a little housekeeping with the (leaf) blower.”
The man cave down South is typically the garage. But the space is tricked out with such macho touches as a TV, beer kegs, a wood-burning stove, recliners and other comfortable chairs from which football can be enjoyed. “And most of us southern boys have got to have somewhere to display a mega rack of fishing rods,” Trout says.
But the male sanctuary doesn’t have to be in or even near the garage.
“A man cave can take on several personas, depending on what you want it to be,” says Wyndham. “It can be a place where golf clubs can be cleaned or repaired or a workshop in a garage.” It can even be a smoking room where guys can fire up cigars without fear of recrimination.
Wyndham teamed up with Jacksonville remodeler Chuck Horn of Horn Builders to create a man’s smoking room decked out with a bar, a poker table and a display of collector boxing gloves. “Because the homeowner enjoys cigars, we made what we called a butt chute,” says Wyndham. “That’s a 4-inch galvanized pipe inside a cabinet connected to a sand bucket outside. He throws the cigar butts in that.”
Also included in the room’s design was a dumb waiter, which allows the wife to send up popcorn, beer and other refreshments without entering the male refuge. The room almost has a bit of an upscale sports bar feel to it, Wyndham says, with mirrors, special lighting and displays of liquor bottles.
A sports bar atmosphere is a common request for a man cave, as is a gentleman’s lodge, says Trout, who has helped fashion spaces that were furnished with gun cabinets, wood paneling, trophy bucks and bearskin rugs.
Also popular in man cave décor is the classic feel of a dignified library or study. Sisler Johnston Interior Design transformed a space that had formerly been a kids’ bedroom in a home in Atlantic Beach into a man’s retreat by adding wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling custom mahogany millwork as well as mahogany floors, an oval partners desk, leather furniture, custom window cornices and a Persian carpet. The makeover cost more than $75,000.
“Men throughout Florida have found ingenious ways to transform under-utilized square footage in their homes into their own personal retreats,” says Michael Lenahen, president of Aurora Custom Remodeling. “Taking over portions of garages, secondary bedrooms and bonus rooms, men have fulfilled their dream of having a place of their own to kick back and become immersed in the passion of their choice.”
Some of the more popular themes for local man caves have centered around a favorite college football team, a favorite NASCAR driver, a collection of themed memorabilia or simply an all-inclusive gaming center, Lenahen adds.
Man caves can also become hideaways for man-hobbies such as restoring vintage cars, working out, playing pool and displaying collections of prized possessions.
Man caves vary according to the individual, of course, but Lenahen says most of them share common elements, such as a large TV, a comfortable recliner, a wet bar or beverage center and an audio/video stereo system with surround sound.
Wyndham says the key ingredient in most man caves is “technology, technology, technology and gadgets, gadgets and gadgets.” Also, she notes, men want every appliance, including icemakers, wine coolers and refrigerators. “It’s his retreat to do what he enjoys doing,” she adds. “It’s the designer’s job to find what that is.”
Remodeler Lauren Smith of J.L. Smith Construction agrees. “We’ve done a lot of man caves on bigger homes where they have the square footage,” he says. “It’s a place to watch TV or a lot of times it’s a room to show off trophies. Most man caves have football jerseys and trophy fish and things like that displayed.”
In Florida, Wyndham says, you can’t send a man off to the basement – a rarity here – and you can’t send him to an unairconditioned garage because of the heat. “So it makes sense to carve out another space for them in the house,” she adds. “It really does enhance your marriage.”