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Best Seat in the House

Builder-installed home theater does away with the Saturday-night-out ritual.

It wasn’t long ago that a house was considered well equipped if it had a second bathroom. (Some of our older readers remember when any bathroom was a big deal.) You were really living if you had lighted closets or factory-made kitchen cabinets. Well, that just won’t cut it anymore. Browsing through some leftover press materials from the International Builders' Show, we came across a news release from Owens Corning describing a builder-installed home theater system called Visionaire FX. With prices starting under $29,000, it’s an “affordable upgrade” for today’s new homes, the company says with the same dry and highly reserved tone once reserved for Rolls-Royce dealers.

What do you get for the money? Pretty much the whole enchilada (and a rather gaudy one at that, we might add). Included are acoustic wall and ceiling panels, impressive architectural and electronic design elements, video projection system, Dolby Digital surround-sound system, theater chairs and speaker columns. You have to supply your own buttered popcorn and soft drinks, however. For information on the system, contact Owens Corning at 800-438-7465.