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No. 75 | A JWC Media publicAtion SATurdAy MarCh 15 | SuNdAy MarCh 16 2014 sunday socials sPorts breakfast check out A winter club nAbS A tom mcAfee greAt north number of hockey SteerS hoSpitAl Shore benefit. titleS. to new heightS. P.25 P.52 P.21 local neWs and Personalities of Wilmette, kenilWorth, Winnetka, northfield, Glencoe, hiGhland Park, evanston, lake forest, mettaWa & lake bluff

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special dens for men are better than ever on north shore. P8 The Perper home in highland Park

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■ by bill mclean Barbara Shields, a broker at @ properties in Winnetka, would like Man caves — also known as man- to strike “man cave” from the domes- tuaries, hubby hideaways and the tic lexicon altogether. forerunners to media rooms — have “A so-called man cave … that’s so come a long way since taking up pedestrian,” she says. “A man who space in oil-stained garages and dank wants a place to be alone at home only basements. has to go to his beautiful library, or In many cases they’re now immacu- his office, or a wine room. An office is late, high-tech havens for homeown- classic and timeless, a perfect place ers who want to close a door on the for a man to close a door to the world stresses of life and then lose them- and be with his golf trophies, books selves in the joy of watching their and other things.” favorite football team win a televised Orren Pickell has seen all kinds of game on one of several flat screens. man caves, from a low-budget shelter A billiards table nearby comes in with a kegerator (a refrigerator modi- handy during halftime, as does a wet fied to contain and dispense beer) to a bar. Sometimes the crackling from a high-end room with a poker table as man cave’s fireplace drowns out the its centerpiece and an air handler to sound of liquid hitting ice cubes in disperse cigarette and cigar smoke. a glass. “The best man caves are the ones “You could define a man cave as that take care of all of a man’s video a deluxe, comfortable setting that and audio needs, the ones with mul- allows people to separate themselves tiple TVs, games — they’re essentially from everyday worries,” says Roberta large entertainment centers,” says Miller, an associate broker at Koenig Pickell, president and CEO of Orren & Strey in Lake Forest. “It gives a Pickell Building Group in Northfield. person a feeling of escape.” “It’s a space for a man to do anything But Miller and others in real he wants. estate along the North Shore believe “But I’m sure there are wives men’s “Do Not Disturb” signs on the who also like man caves,” he adds,” entrance of their caves have largely because wives get to escape their hus- fallen and now serve as welcome mats bands when the husbands are in those — for women and children. caves for all those hours.” “It shouldn’t be a room just for Hours before men’s hockey games pool tables, bars and more are part of man caves on the north Shore. men,” says Susan Silverberg, market- at the University of Notre Dame, Irish ing coordinator at Coldwell Banker players get to hang out in a room in      in Deerfield. “I like the idea of sitting the Compton Family Ice Arena, relax- around in a big room in your PJs. The ing while watching TV on a leather husband and wife should take turns couch or playing Foosball. The con- using it; the whole family should be venient refuge is dubbed, “The Chill able to enjoy it.” Room,” aka man cave’s little brother. Dan Perper and his wife, Danielle, For Highland Park resident Ian live in Highland Park with their Robinson, a man cave wouldn’t be a me wAnt three children, ages 6 to 11. Dan’s man cave without sports jerseys in cave features eight TVs, cozy furni- glass cases on walls, posters of sports ture and a unique door separating heroes, baseball bats and football hel- it from the home library. Close the mets here, baseballs and golf balls new nAme door, push a button and, gradually, there, and other varieties of sports the door’s glass frosts over. Cool — in memorabilia doing double duty as more ways than one. room ornaments. “I’m a big NFL fan,” says Dan “When I think of the early man Perper, an investment firm partner caves I also think of the ones with a The term "man cave" may seem slightly anachronistic in the 21st century — and an even bigger Chicago Bears wood-paneled bar in a wood-paneled fan. “I’m in there every Sunday dur- basement,” says Robinson, branch especially on the North Shore, where some of these havens feature eight ing the football season. When I’m in manager and broker at Coldwell there I don’t hear a thing going on in Banker in Northbrook. “Many of big-screen televisions and other technological wonders. the rest of the house. For about every the them now are home theaters 20 times I’m in there, my wife is in with huge screens. The definition there with me once, and our 6-year- of a man cave depends on the man. old knows how to work the whole I have an office at home; it’s like a The North Shore Weekend's Facebook page at Facebook.com/ room. You should see him, the way library. It used to be a spacious place he plays video games while watch- for me to sit on a couch, read books TheNorthShoreWeekend invites you to participate in our Man Cave Reader Poll. ing TV.” and relax. Now our son’s toys are in According to mancavesite.org, there and we’ve converted it into a Our editor will be choosing the most creative response to our Man Cave question “man cave” was first used as a family room where we spend a lot of description for a room in 1992. In time together.” among those entries that like the NSW Facebook page. 2012, in a piece written by Adam Tom Girot, president of Thomas Tschorn of the Los Angeles Times, Sarti Girot Interiors in Park Ridge, interior designer Courtney Cachet has been in the design trade for 35 notes a man cave would have been years and worked on many North “called a media room” in 2005. Shore homes. Nearly every house he “I promise you,” she adds, “as soon enhances boasts a media room, aka as the economy takes even a little bit a man cave’s classy cousin. The winner will receive a $100 gift card of an uptick, there will be a resur- “I don’t need a man cave or any gence that will put to shame what room similar to it,” says Girot, a furnished by Nick's Bar & Grill. we’ve seen so far. People will be pull- Morris resident. “I don’t want one. ing out all the stops. We’ll see man “I live vicariously through my cli- caves with bowling alleys.” ents.” ■