Man Cave Addition Project Goals

Early in the design and planning phase for this addition project it became obvious that this would be an award winning space one-of-a-kind space. This client originally pitched the idea to us for this project as a two car garage addition that would have a “basement space that could be used as a bar area if they so choose.” As the project developed, it became obvious that underneath this garage, a modern industrial man cave was taking shape.

As the design process evolved, we worked closely with this client to understand their vision for what the spaces would be. The new space ultimately was divided up into three use groups. The upstairs garage was pretty straightforward, they needed a space for two cars to park indoors. Downstairs, the lower level was designed to be split into a pottery studio on one half of the basement and a cigar lounge on the other half. These lower spaces were more unique to fit the use of each room but the cigar lounge was so highly customized and detailed it won the NRHBAs 2024 Most Unique Home Feature Award.

Not only were the finishes in this room completely custom, but we were able to build a concealed entry to the space to really seal the deal and provide a speak-easy theme when you entered the space. This was achieved by installing a two-part door system that was concealed by a custom built “pottery shelf” door on the entry side. This hidden doorway leads from the basement pottery room and provides a dramatic and exciting reveal as you enter a 300 SF modern industrial lounge equipped with wet bar, custom built bar shelving, metallic epoxy floor, and trim less finish design. The lounge has an attached bathroom sporting a freestanding wine barrel sink, black ceramic toilet and motion-activated urinal.

In the end, this project developed into a one-of-a-kind home feature room that was designed and built with client vision in mind and many sets of expertise employed to make it all come together.

Man Cave Design Details

Land & Space Planning – The first challenge we faced on this project was related to the available space the client had left on their property. When building an addition, the proximity to the property line always comes into play and in this case, it was a restricting factor. Through the survey process, our team reviewed several options for building placement and ultimately decided to fit the structure we would have to push the connection to the house further back than we typically would have. This shift pushed the building back off the hill and created a big elevation change below that called for extra foundation work.
Elevated slab and ceiling – To build a suspended slab fit for holding up a garage and cars we used an engineered system from metwood. This is a metal post, beam, and decking system that gets concrete poured on top. This system worked great for our garage floor and the underside was a great finish for us to paint black and use as the ceiling of the cigar lounge.

Modern trimless detail – To compliment the industrial modern interior design style, our walls within the lounge did not have any baseboard or shoe mold as would be typical in interior rooms. These trims act as a cap for the termination of other materials such as the floor, drywall, and the door frames. In this case the trim was non-existent and we worked closely with the drywall team to coordinate the install of trimless drywall terminations.
Hidden door design – The hidden door was achieved by combining a trimless door on the lounge side and a hinged shelf on the pottery side. The hinged shelf is friction fit into place but houses hidden casters and on the bottom and door hinges up the side that allow the shelf to rotate like any other door out of the way and gain access to the room behind. The design, planning, and building of this function all came together after many months of collaboration between our team and client!

Mountain Top Man Cave Addition