Santa Barbara Estate: The Simulator Room | Inside Kingdom & Co. Podcast

In this episode of Inside Kingdom & Co., host Lincoln Rogers and builder John McDonough step inside one of the most extraordinary rooms in the Santa Barbara Estate — a custom home simulator room built around a Ferrari racing simulator with a Moog motion platform. They discuss reclaimed trellis beams from the Great Salt Lake, old-world joinery techniques, and how craftsmanship and cutting-edge racing technology come together in a single space.

Lincoln: There are man caves, and then there are man caves.

So one of the things that I’ve never seen in my life, and something probably you’ve never done in your career, is build something like this.

Can you explain to us what this is?

John: Yeah, this is what you would call probably the ultimate man cave, if you were going to say anything.

So this is basically, the owner races cars around the world, and he wanted to be able to create a room that he could practice, a simulator room.

So this is basically a Ferrari racing simulator room that was designed to take a more modern element in the house, which is all the, as you’ll soon see, the red, everything looks more modern, but he wanted the room to look very old world and fit into the house.

So what was done was to create this room, as you come in and see, with a Ferrari simulator.

Lincoln: Right

John: This is basically from Ferrari.

It’s what’s called a Moog, and this base piece moves.

There’s a full race, 3D race track here.

You can choose any track in the world.

And then these are the chassis, as if you look around the room, you’ll see the different chassis that he races.

These are actual race cars with everything the same inside, steering wheel, buttons, pedals, Recaro seats, straps, everything is an exact match to his race cars.

So when he does this, this gives him practice to do any track he wants to do.

Now one of the things that is so impressive about this room is the trellis beams.

These beams actually came from the Great Salt Lake.

Lincoln: Okay.

John: This was a structure that was built out there.

I think it was in the early 20s.

They had a resort out there with a walkway that took you across the Great Salt Lake to the resort.

Well, when that resort went belly up, everything just kind of fell and got buried in the sand over the years.

So these were actually pulled out of the Great Salt Lake sand-

Lincoln: Awesome.

John: And used in this house.

Lincoln: They’re beautiful.

John: And if you look at how they’re not a single nail in them, it’s all dowels.

So everything is put together.

So now you’ve got the clavos, which are wood pegs, and everything’s doweled together.

So this room is amazing.

If you look at the simulator equipment here, everything is Ferrari red, the exact color that Ferrari uses.

That’s his race suits, his helmets, that’s the technology to run it right there.

He’s got a room over there that’s got his race suits in it, but pretty impressive.

Lincoln: Now, didn’t you, I think you told me earlier that this Ferrari red wrap came from the actual Ferrari company.

John: Correct.

Lincoln: And obviously this client has a good relationship with Ferrari.

And so to be able to pull it off, to be able to have a relationship with Ferrari, to get a wrap from them, and then also to be able to have their, I remember him saying he has connections with their engineers.

So when he rides these tracks, he’s actually connected and their engineers will help him race these tracks.

John: Correct.

And what they will do too is if he wants, they will fly a helicopter the day before and send him new video of the track, which will then get uploaded to this, which will have the exact tire marks and everything as the day before.

Lincoln: That’s amazing.

John: Isn’t it?

Lincoln: The ultimate man cave.

John: Yes, the ultimate.