A DAD-of-two has unveiled an incredible secret room he spent two years building in his house – but has revealed his heartbreak at having to potentially sell his home and his dream “man-cave”.
Zakk Farkas from the US state of Virginia said he started building the “Satanic-themed” space – inspired by his love of heavy metal – during the first Covid lockdown as a personal project.
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But unfortunately, with a growing family, the 36-year-old faces having to sell up and abandon his $2,000 (£1,700) dream room.
He told The Sun Online: “I wanted to do something completely different – and step into another world.”
Explaining the theme behind the room, he said: “My dad was an 80s metal kid, especially British metal like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath.
“I’m agnostic, but I’ve always been very intrigued by the occult and influenced by metal. I’ve been a musician almost my entire life.”
In January 2020, Zakk set about transforming the linen closet in his ordinary-looking suburban house into a remarkable heavy-metal den.
“When we had our house built in 2015, the room was only supposed to be a linen closet,” he said. “But the builder filled it out to go much further because the foundation was already there.
“He saw it as an extra space, so he extended it to go the entire length of the first floor.
“When I saw that, I immediately went back to my childhood and thought how cool would it be to have a hidden room.”
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The remarkable space is accessed through a concealed entrance in the wall hidden behind a painting.
Inside is a dungeon-like corridor with dark-painted bricks and eerie red lights.
Metal beams and chains line the walls, while a medieval-looking chandelier is suspended from the ceiling.
At the end of the corridor hangs a huge print of William Blake’s iconic early-19th-century painting The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun.
The watercolour illustrates a scene from the Bible’s Book of Revelations and plays a prominent role in Thomas Harris’ novel Red Dragon, which became the films Manhunter and Red Dragon.
In the latter, serial killer The Tooth Fairy is obsessed with the painting and believes that each murder brings him closer to becoming the Dragon.
Behind the painting, which acts as a secret entrance of its own, is another hidden space.
I don’t own a bunch of guns, I’m not into bondage, and it’s not an S&M dungeon
Zakk Farkas
While others create secret rooms as cinemas or bars, Zakk insists that his space has no particular purpose.
“I don’t own a bunch of guns, I’m not into bondage, and it’s not an S&M dungeon,” he said. “The room is like a painting or art piece for me.”
Creating his room was not without its difficulties. Three months after starting the project, Zakk’s second son was born.
“With a newborn baby in the house, I had to keep quiet, so I could only work on it a couple of hours a day.”
His initial budget was $1,500 (£1,300), while the final cost came to just over $2,000 (£1,700).
The lumber for the false door was the biggest cost, Zakk explained, coming to around $1,000 (££850) on its own.
Faux-brick panels – essentially cardboard with a brick veneer – make up the hidden door.
“They’re very sturdy, they feel and look a lot like brick, although they’re much thinner than drywall,” he added.
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To open the door, you have to slide a board into the wall, using a rusty nail attached to a steel cable as a “simplistic but camouflaged” gate latch.
The flooring, made of metallic epoxy resin to create a fiery-looking surface, was also a major expense.
“My older son who is two loves the hidden room,” Zakk said. “We play ‘the floor is lava’ all the time, we take the couch cushions, it’s just a big games room for him.”
However, Zakk admits his son often forgets to keep the secret room a secret.
“If we have friends over for the first time, he’s quick to show people how to get in,” he said.
What does Zakk’s wife make of his project?
“My wife is very supportive of me and my creative outlets, however, she didn’t want this kind of theme to run through the rest of the house,” he said. “She thinks it’s cool, it’s not her cup of tea, but she appreciates the work.”
But with the birth of their second child, the couple are now looking to upscale to a bigger home, and Zakk admits he is sad to have put in all this work and now having to leave.
“Finishing the room made me never want to move,” he said. “It will pull on the heartstrings to say goodbye, but I’ve told my wife that at our new home, I will make my hidden room again even better!”
Zakk says he doesn’t describe the room as a “mancave” as the room isn’t just for him, and he isn’t trying to hide from his family.
“I just loved the idea of stepping into another world,” he said. “You can be in any neighbourhood in the US or the UK and from the outside, it could look like a normal house.
“But you never know what lurks in the basement. The concept is so cool to me.”
Zakk adds: “My goal is to inspire others to be themselves and to be original because at the end of the day we’re all different and those differences must be embraced.”
To follow more of Zakk’s amazing projects, go to his YouTube channel Home Degore.
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