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The smoke machine quickly fills the room.
The saloon section is a work in progress.
Chris says there are a number of man caves in Wellsford.
If you’ve got a spare million lying around, you could be the proud owner of a man cave in Port Albert, complete with a bar, band stage and barbecue with a spit.
With a lot of help from mates, Chris and Yvonne Bright have spent six years putting together a fully kitted out sleep-out for entertaining up 120 of their closest friends.
The stage features a drum kit, keyboard, coloured lighting, a sound mixer, a smoke machine and even a guitar signed by Willie Nelson.
Local bands that have played the venue include The Damage INXS tribute show, Monkey Assassins, Bad Neighbours, Dog House, ANZACs, Vertigo, Time Machine and even Mi-Sex, who signed their names on the bar.
Chris is something of muso, having slapped the bass back in the day, but says he met most of his rock ‘n’ roll mates through hot-rodding.
He says there’s still a mark on the floor where a motorcycle was brought inside and used for a burnout, filling the room with smoke and waking up guests upstairs.
There are 70 Jim Beam bottles hung above the door frame, which 20 mates drank over a series of thirsty Thursdays, they say.
The men’s bathroom is called the piston room. Mahurangi Matters was told this was a reference to the mechanical parts mounted on the walls.
The entertaining area outside the bar includes a spa pool, alongside a rock formation seating area made to surround a brazier featuring a chimney that hangs from the roof.
“We’ve hosted a 21st, a 30th, a 50th, a 60th, an 80th, Christmas, New Years and even a wedding,” Chris says.
“They used the Port Albert church next door to get married and we tidied up the shed for the reception, then used the man cave for the after party, and got it all done in one hit.”
The latest addition to the man cave is a fully enclosed winter bar down a passage out the back that has been styled as a western saloon, complete with a cowboy literally hanging from the rafters.
Chris and Yvonne went on a three-week tour of the southern United States visiting op shops to fit the man cave out, filling a classic 1955 Chevrolet with items before shipping it back in a container to Port Albert.
They then drove down to Timaru to pick up a pianola self-playing piano and a cabinet full of scrolls for it.
They say for the price tag of a million dollars, most of the items in the man cave will remain with the new owners.
“It also comes with a free six-bedroom house and a two-bedroom house to keep the wife happy,” Chris says.
He says the reason they are selling is so they can start all over again. This time, Chris is imagining underground tunnels.
