LIFE BEYOND FIRST CLASS
DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE
GAME ON!
As we spend more time at home, many seek a wealth of well-sized entertainment areas ideal for hosting family and friends, from billiards and games rooms to home theaters to indoor basketball courts.
Utah-based custom builders Pure Haven, known for their luxury builds in exclusive communities such as Promontory and Victory Ranch, continues to make dreams a reality. Collaborate closely with architects and designers; they create dramatic spaces such as a yoga zen room with a living wall, a walk-in wine closet, a secret golf simulator room that’s hidden behind a wall, and much more for their clients. And since we have been indoors for the past two years, the jump in requests to bring the finest amenities into our homes has increased. One luxury comfort seems to have top priority - the indoor basketball court. While the requests from hoop aficionados were growing before the pandemic, the demand continues to be prevalent.
“They’re just very popular here in Utah,” says Shane Harr, managing member of PureHaven Homes. “Everyone has kids, and it’s cold in winter… it’s just nice to have that place inside where the kids can go and do their own thing, especially in a soundproof basement area away from the rest of the home.”
For a Salt Lake-based client whose family are big BYU fans, Pure Haven recently constructed an indoor court that doubled as a ballet studio for their daughter. The court is unique thanks to the abundance of natural light that the large windows provide, unlike those built underground or in a garage. The space has developed into a sports court for other activities such as pickleball, yoga, and volleyball.
Another of Pure Haven’s recent installations in Sandy required a bit more innovation. The family wanted a detached garage, but the city wouldn’t permit it. The Pure Haven team developed a creative solution. From the street level, it looked detached, but it’s is connected to the home via an underground basketball court.
“This turned out really cool,” says Harr.” From the home’s main level, you can walk downstairs into a home gym area. Then you can go into the basketball court from there or walk up to another set of stairs into a mother-in-law apartment above the garage.”
Other project hurdles included masking the sound and the dig. The dribbling and shooting create plenty of noise, so carpets on the walls are used to dampen the noise. To play a game without the ball hitting the ceiling, you need at least 21-feet of headspace, and digging in Utah can lead to many surprises. “One time, we were digging down about 30 feet for one of these courts, and we actually hit a vein of gold,” says Harr. “It was crazy!”