It’s safe to say that, if given an unlimited budget to outfit your home, person and lifestyle, you would’ve made different design choices at 12 than you would at present.
If you were a living, breathing, movie-watching being in the ‘80s, chances are you know this as the premise behind Tom Hanks age-travel flick Big. Most memorable was probably his home, a Manhattan apartment appointed with pinball, soda machine and indoor trampoline.
Which begs the question: When and why did we decide that these amenities aren’t every bit as useful in the fortysomething’s dream home as they are the junior high schooler’s?
Answer: they absolutely can be, and we’ve got six homes to prove it.
Starting with slides.
East Village, Manhattan
Pro poker player Phil Galfond’s Manhattan penthouse features a glass pool table, hanging eggshell chairs and a spiraling metal slide that conveys visitors from second floor to first.
The Sky House, New York City
This four-story complex comes complete with four bedrooms, 32 windows, a wraparound terrace and an 80-foot mirrored tube slide inspired by London’s Tate Modern. Practical? We think so.
Cascade Foothills, Washington
Slides aren’t your thing? No biggie. Opt for a firepole.
Auckland, New Zealand
Coined as the “Bachelor Pad” home, another integral fire pole design. Good for the spirit, good for getting the heck out of a dodge when there’s an actual fire.
Want more fire poles? Right this way.
The 3way House, Japan
Enough with descents. Say you want to get a little creative going up — for that, we recommend a rock climbing wall. Get upstairs. Get buff.
Flatiron, New York
Not every NYC home has space for swings. This one does in at least two places, along with a diorama coffee table paying tribute to that most hallowed of NYC icons: the yellow cab.
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