Digital Palace

For the home of a man who has based his life on technological innovation, one would expect a room full of multi-media wizardry as a showpiece. Indeed such a room exists at Scott Jones' residence, and it exceeds the wildest of our imaginations. It's called the Digital Palace.

Digital Palace is a twist on the name Electric Palace, a name used for more than one early movie theater in England. Obviously, Palace is in keeping with Scott's stately turn-of-the-century house. Digital is in keeping with all the high-tech devices he invents and has in his house.

This elegant theater can seat up to 20 people and won two awards in 1999 from the Consumer Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA):

  • Best Home Theater - Architectural Design
  • Best Home Theater - Electronic System Design
  • Best Home Theater - MTV Cribs

A full-size movie screen (16x9 feet) fills one end of the theater. In addition to a top-of-the-line projector, the theater also has an interpolator, which makes the image on the screen appear like film. When the screen is not in use, it is covered by rich burgundy curtains trimmed with gold braid and fringe at the bottom.


Photo by Denis Ryan Kelly Jr.
Five of the 20 comfortable theater seats get an optimal view from a balcony with a wrought-iron railing. Each plush seat is wired to include connections for laptop computers to access the home's network and the Internet, plus audio/video connections for video games, camcorders, or other devices. With A/V devices from companies Scott heads, only a few points and clicks are required to play the CD or DVD of choice from Scott's collection. In addition, each row in the theater includes touch-screen controls, so that lighting can be adjusted for theatrical productions on the stage.

The sound inside the Digital Palace is unlike anything one has experienced at even the best-equipped surround-sound commercial movie theater. Amazingly, there are thirteen "invisible" speakers hidden in the walls.

All these big-theater components working together in an intimate home theater make for a truly remarkable multi-sensory experience - much more intense than it would be in a larger setting. One visitor described the theater as a "visual and mystical paradise."

THEATER LOBBY
A site to behold, this opulent room takes one back to a time when visiting the theater was a formal, upscale event. The ceiling in the theater lobby is authentic gold leaf and includes a gold chandelier as its centerpiece above regal red carpeting and plush antique

furniture. On display behind the bar is one of the antique clocks in Scott's extensive personal collection.

BOX OFFICE
Just outside the lobby, an old-fashioned box office has room for one ticket seller. At gatherings, though, all three Jones boys may stack themselves at various levels inside to take turns handing out free tickets for the show.

Photo on left by Denis Ryan Kelly Jr.