Giddy Up in This Wild Western Theater
By Arlen Schweiger
These homeowners corralled plenty of design elements, including some from a local steakhouse and saloon, to create their themed theater.

Inspiration for home theater design can come from just about anywhere. A restaurant is rare, but Homer Simpson would be proud of where Kurt and Kelly Santoro were inspired: Cool Hand Luke’s, a California steakhouse and saloon chain. Mmmmmmm … steak, beer and home theater.

While the fixins at this old west-style restaurant might be tasty, it’s the decorative visual feast that really caught the Santoros’ eye when they were thinking about turning part of their big garage into a theater.



With a nudge from Jay Cobb of custom electronics firm Hi-Tech Home in Clovis, Calif., the homeowners circled the wagons and agreed that a western theme fit their lifestyle and locale perfectly. The result combines enough steak and sizzle to challenge the Cool Hand Luke’s tagline as “The Coolest Joint in Town.”

“He does taxidermy, and he’s got a big barn in the back that he runs his business out of that has a cool western theme to it. Originally when we were talking about design we were discussing a more traditional theater look with the woodwork, columns, colors,” says Cobb.

“Then it dawned, why go with a traditional setup? A western theme is more intact with their casual lifestyle out here [in rural California], so why not carry the business into the home, but not to the extreme where they have stuffed animals in the room, just a comfortable, cozy atmosphere. They were excited about it, and liked a lot of the stuff in Cool Hand Luke’s restaurant.”

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