Hey Yawwn
Did you see the article in the SF Chronicle about the home theater of C.C. Sabathia? He lives in Fairfield.
When Cleveland Indians pitching ace C.C. Sabathia wants to relax during the off-season, he heads to the Fireball Lounge.
There, the 26-year-old from Vallejo can grab a beer from the bar, watch a movie on the 162-inch drop-down projector screen or even get his hair cut by his barber.
The best part about the place? It's in his backyard. Literally.
The 1,200-square-foot high-tech cutting-edge hangout is tucked next to the pool behind Sabathia's Fairfield manse. Its nickname derives from the lefty's blazing fastball, which approaches 100 mph. Martin Mitchell, who designed the Fireball Lounge, usually refers to it as simply "the cabana." But this isn't some shack with plastic beach chairs and umbrella-topped drinks -- although there is a margarita-maker at the bar.
The theater area boasts five flat-screen televisions, as well as the enormous projector screen. A curved ticker provides real-time news and sports scores. The bar offers three beers on tap: Bud Light, Heineken and Miller Genuine Draft. Nearby is the black leather barber chair -- and the barber makes house calls for Sabathia and his son.
Sports memorabilia is showcased under glass tile flooring. Framed baseball jerseys line the wall -- Ichiro, Chavez, Grady Sizemore -- many with personal inscriptions.
The covered cabana patio has a fireplace with a 45-inch flat-screen TV mounted above it. Ceiling fans and heat lamps allow for year-round outdoor entertaining. The pool features a waterfall and a grotto with a hot tub and, yes, another TV.
Every year, Sabathia leaves all of this behind when he reports for duty with the Indians, who drafted him out of Vallejo High School in 1998.
During the baseball season, he lives in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake. Joining him are his wife, Amber, who was his high school sweetheart; their 3-year-old son, Carsten Charles III, who goes by "Lil' C"; and their daughter, Jaden, almost 2.
Despite living in California less than half of the year, Sabathia maintains strong ties to the town where he grew up. He donates his time and money to the North Vallejo Little League and the local Boys and Girls Club. "Without those places, I would not be where I am today," he said.
He also participates in Strikeouts for Troops, the charitable organization founded by San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito that assists wounded servicemen and servicewomen during their recovery. Last season, Sabathia contributed $100 for every strikeout he threw, raising $17,200.
Although he describes the fans in Cleveland as "amazing," Sabathia said of the Fairfield abode: "This is home first."
After all, it is the house where he and his family host Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas gatherings, Super Bowl celebrations, and regular Sunday and Monday night football parties. He and his wife chose the gated subdivision in Fairfield in part because of its proximity to Vallejo.
"It is hard to leave our home every spring," said Amber Sabathia. "We mostly miss the time we are able to spend with our family and friends in our home."
Next week, they will make a special trip back to the Bay Area: C.C. was selected for the All-Star team, which he considers "a privilege and a wonderful experience," he said. On Tuesday, his American League squad will square off against the National League at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
When the Sabathias bought their Fairfield home in 2004, the main house was new. "When we first walked in, we both looked at each other and said, 'This is our home!' " Amber recalled. "We knew immediately."
The cabana and pool areas were designed and constructed from the ground up. The entire project took about two years, and was completed in September -- just in time for MTV to film a segment of "Cribs," the show that lets viewers peek into celebrity homes.
Mitchell, president of Martin Perri Interiors in San Ramon, was hired to decorate and furnish it. "The house was a blank slate," he said. "Amber had selected some pieces for the family room but wasn't that comfortable with them."
The designer acknowledges that when it comes to furnishing an entire house, top to bottom, "it can be intimidating for people to make decisions." C.C. Sabathia's frame -- he's 6 feet 7 and weighs 290 pounds -- presented an additional challenge, Mitchell said.
"For many professional athletes, you can't just walk into a store and buy furniture," he said. "Everything was custom. Everything was upscaled in size, comfort and construction."
The home's entryway, which is defined by travertine floors and white pillars, leads into "the piano room." Nevermind that no one in the family can play; the Yamaha works with MP3s and CDs.
Sheer curtains cascade from the 27-foot ceilings to the floor, which, coincidentally, is laid with black granite tiles in a shape resembling a baseball diamond.
To add warmth, the maple floors in the study were replaced with antique walnut. The black cabinets were designed by Martin Perri Interiors to display trophies and mementos, including Sabathia's first home-run ball and a boxing glove signed by Muhammad Ali.
A brown leather chair studded with brass swivels between two desks. One desk is for the computer, while the other is set up for reading and studying. (Amber Sabathia is graduating in the fall from San Francisco State University.)
In the master bedroom, neutral earth tones allow the custom-designed, large-scale furnishings to feel relaxing rather than overwhelming. To get into the bed, which is 3 feet high, Mitchell quips that a running jump or pole vault is required. Since it is nearly double the size of a California king, the mattress and bedding were also specially made.
Upstairs, Mitchell treated the children's bedrooms like mini projects. "It's about creating an individual space -- breaking off from the sophistication of the rest of the house," he said. "We wanted to create an environment that would be fun for a 2- or 3-year-old."
While Lil' C's room has a sports theme, Jaden's has a garden motif. Almost everything in the rooms is custom, including the bunk beds and carpeting. The elaborate murals in both rooms took two months to complete.
"My favorite parts of the home are the children's rooms," Amber Sabathia said. "I adore them."
As for her husband, she said, he might be partial to the Fireball Lounge. That's where Mitchell and the San Mateo firm Sight & Sounds really indulged C.C. Sabathia's love of high-tech gadgetry.
"If there is something new out, I want it!" he said. "I told Martin I wanted the newest, most high-tech equipment installed in my home. ... My wife says the ticker in the cabana was a little too high-tech for her, but I love it."
Mitchell presses a few buttons on a control panel and suddenly, all five TVs in the cabana's theater -- four 45-inch Sharp LCD screens and one 63-inch NEC high-definition plasma -- come alive with the Disney Channel's "Lilo and Stitch" cartoon.
Just in case the parents don't always share the kids' programming taste, each TV can display a different channel. Wireless headphones negate any audio conflicts.
The audio for the room is a Linn system from Scotland. Each speaker drive has its own amplifier, for a total of 16 in the system, each running at 100 watts.
With another touch of a button, the projector screen drops from a ceiling soffit. The custom Stewart Filmscreen works with an InFocus Screenplay HDTV projector.
The mirror in front of the barber chair is embedded with a 20-inch LCD TV. Just because it's time for a haircut doesn't mean Sabathia has to miss a single moment of a game or movie.
By using ebonized mahogany wood and stainless steel accents, Mitchell brought the contemporary aesthetic of the main house into the cabana. Sabathia's fireball logo, a baseball with flames trailing, was incorporated into the carpeting and on the black leather theater seats. The pitcher's designated chair is monogrammed with "Dub" (short for Double-C).
Although the Fireball Lounge was the most challenging part of the renovation, it was also the most rewarding for Mitchell. "Seeing how happy they are with the finished product makes it all worthwhile," he said.
Before Mitchell entered the picture, the backyard was "a huge dirt hill," Amber Sabathia said.
"Martin was a savior," she added. "He turned our house into a home."
Pics:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2007/07/04/HOGA7Q75RG43.DTL&o=0
I go by Maximus330I on AVS forum. Can you guess which car I had a few years ago?:biggrin:
