Now, more than ever, families across the globe are prioritizing their homes. After months of fluctuating stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our “wish lists” or our dream homes have grown extensively. Not only are we working from home, but they have become our children’s schools, our gyms, playgrounds, restaurants—our everything ... or have they?

Home improvement projects have become the priority, and building supplies are said to be backordered for months. Contractors are working overtime to keep up with a demand for new swimming pools, and a Honolulu-based distributor advised that he has more than 100 backorders of Jacuzzi installations for private residences.

One family from Los Angeles — in what may seem to be not quite a prescient move, but definitely a serendipitous one — designed their vacation home within the exclusive Big Island residential club of Kūki‘o. On first impression, The Maile Villa, as they have named their second home, echoes a quintessential modern Hawaiian home complete with endemic Hawaiian ‘Ohi‘a columns, a classic Dickey-style roofline, and separate “hale-style” guest villas. But, for guests lucky enough to get invited, The Maile Villa holds an underground world — also known as the [pandemic-ready] gaming and entertainment wing that recreational dreams are made of.

“What I thought was especially unique about this home was the juxtaposition between the two spaces —two worlds, really,” says interior designer Marion Philpotts-Miller, partner of award-winning luxury interior design firm Philpotts Interiors.

“They named the home The Maile Villa because they were inspired to create a home that was a peaceful and tranquil escape from Los Angeles, but then as soon as you go downstairs into the family room, you are transported into a vintage, yet tech-savvy playground that appeals to all ages,” she adds.

To call this entertainment-space a “game room” would be an understatement. The fully excavated basement has been transformed into several special experiences, including a private gym, a tiki bar, a movie theater and a game room equipped with a shuffleboard table, ping-pong table, billiards and two-lane bowling alley.

“This client really pushed the envelope to maximize the space on their lot, and now that the pandemic has arrived, they are celebrating, as they have all they need to entertain their extended family right within their own home,” Philpotts-Miller says. “I have had other clients who thought of excavating into the basement, and they usually opt out of this idea in favor of cost-savings, but this family was very intentional to ensure they had high ceilings and custom light wells so that you don’t feel like you are in a cavernous basement,” she adds. In an effort to create a retro Hawai‘i feeling within this entertainment expansion, Philpotts-Miller and her team leaned on classic and nostalgic elements of Hawai‘i. For décor, they gathered playful Hawai‘i collectibles and for the artwork, they enlarged vintage movie posters of iconic films made in Hawai‘i, as well as sheet music of classic island songs.

“The goal was to create a ‘sense of play,’” Philpotts-Miller explains. “And when the sun sets while on vacation in Hawai‘i, why not escape to the rec- room and learn something new — like how to play music, sink an 8-ball or bowl a strike — amid unseen lava tubes, no less,” laughs Philpotts-Miller.

It was a priority to both the Philpotts Interiors design team and their client to support Hawai‘i-based artisans throughout this project, including artwork by Big Island legend Mike Field, a three-panel art series above the bowling lanes and custom wood-carved panels in the screening room. And if you look closely, what appears to be sculptural art resembling a series of gray fish swimming toward the bowling pins is actually an array of acoustic panels designed to professionally soundproof the space — this home exudes creative yet essential technology that deceives the eye.

“During these unique and challenging times, we are re-thinking how we are living, not only how we work in our homes, but also how we play in our homes,” says Philpotts-Miller. “At times, some of these ideas may have felt like overkill or extravagant, when in reality, they were ahead of their time and quite simply a game-changer for one family.”