There are fans of The Shining and there are devotees. American product designer/film producer Jay Veltz and his family sit firmly in the second category and have cemented their obsession by recreating the Overlook Hotel, in exacting detail, in the basement of their Park City home. 

The creepy Room 237 and its green Art Deco bathroom, the famous corridor, the Gold Room bar, and the red bathroom from the most famous hotel in film have all been honoured, together with a luxurious home theatre. 

Join us for a tour: No tricks, just a breathtaking Halloween treat for fans of Kubrick’s classic horror film The Shining.

The Shining sees Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) arrive at the Overlook Hotel at the end of the season to begin their job as winter caretakers, just as the guests are all leaving. In their tour of the hotel by Mr. Ullman, Danny is told that the hotel has a bad history.

The legacy of this hotel of horrors is firmly embedded in popular culture, so when Veltz, together with his artist wife Colleen and children Cianan and Ty, were thinking about the design of the lower ground floor of their new 4000 square feet Park City mountain home, they looked to Kubrick’s film for inspiration.

“We treated it as a family art project” Veltz told me, “originally it wasn’t going to be a replication, but a homage”. However, film student, horror aficionado Cianan suggested, “If we’re going to do this, we have to go all out or not at all!”.

I first spoke to Veltz back in early 2021 after a series of emails enquiring about Film and Furniture’s officially licensed Hicks Hexagon carpet which appeared in the original 1980 film. It soon became apparent that this was no ordinary interiors project and that he was recreating an in-depth tribute to the Overlook after months of painstaking research.

The project is now complete and I was honoured to take an exclusive Halloween video tour and in-depth interview. They may even give you a tour and possibly a sleep-over if you’re lucky (read on).

From hotel door numbers to carpets, from wallpaper to cabinets, and from wall art to props, this homage has been lovingly created with jaw-dropping detail.

Make an entrance – recreating the Overlook Hotel corridor

Upon descending the stairs of the main house, you are immediately confronted with a familiar filmic carpet, the Hicks Hexagon design that graces the hallways of the Overlook Hotel’s corridors.

Film and Furniture regulars will know one of the original inspirations for this very website was this hexagonal patterned carpet. It features prominently in several key scenes of Kubrick’s film, including young Danny’s first unnerving encounter with Room 237 as he investigates on his tricycle.

The carpet’s dynamic orange, brown and red colour way and mesmerising graphic pattern leap out at us from the screen, so it’s no surprise that it has become the most recognisable carpet to ever feature in film.

The Shining carpet has been homaged in Toy Story 3 (Director Lee Unkrich is a big fan of The Shining), in Minions, Passengers, Ready Player One, Doctor Sleep, and now the home of the Veltz family who have named their new-look abode ‘The Overlook Park City’.

Discover theories on why the Hicks Hexagon carpet was chosen for this scene in The Shining in our previous article and the officially licensed carpet and rugs are available to buy for your own home from Film and Furniture.

There ain’t nothing in Room 237

The Veltz entrance hallway opens out into a series of rooms, and directly ahead we see a dark brown door with the number ‘237’ on the outside, a brass door handle with a red key fob.

Few rooms in movie history have been equal measures repellent and captivating at the same time as the hotel room known as Room 237 in Kubrick’s The Shining. Overlook’s head chef Dick Hallorann warns young Danny, “There ain’t nothing in Room 237, but you ain’t got no business going in there anyway, so stay out … you understand, stay out!” but Danny just can’t help himself. And neither can we…

Room 237 has been recreated as a guest bedroom with a custom-made bed, bedside units and a wooden desk with brass details – all referencing those in the film.

The bedspread is a replica of The Shining‘s late-70’s geometric throw and a row of pink and green cushions sit a-top the bed in a diagonal row. Together with the custom-printed beige, cream and brown striped wallpaper, the cacophony of styles and colours create a deliberate jar at every turn.

The mesmerising Room 237 luxury wool carpet (supplied by Film and Furniture) graces the floor. “We’ve gotten many compliments on this carpet… to walk on it with your shoes off, it has a feeling of luxury, it’s plush, and the way that it’s woven makes the pattern very clear” Veltz says.

The same row of pictures that feature in the film – a series of birds by John Gould – hang behind the bed. These are high resolution Giclée art prints on archival paper which sit behind UV glass for protection.

Unlike many horrors that resort to dark and dingy rooms for their scares, Room 237 is unusually colourful and bright, and creates tension by assaulting the senses. 

The Overlook’s green Art Deco bathroom

When Jack goes to investigate what his son has encountered in Room 237 in the film, he wanders through the gaudy 237 bedroom suite into the mint green Art Deco bathroom.

Here, he has the unforgettable horrific encounter with the naked woman. She first appears behind the shower curtain as young and attractive but after stepping out of the bath and walking to Jack to embrace in a kiss, is seen reflected in the mirror as a wizened, rotting old woman.

You may be overjoyed (or disappointed) to learn that there’s no wizened old woman lurking in the Veltz ensuite, but there is the same sanitary ware set – in the same green colour (achieved with a waterproof resin) and the same chromed wall sconce lights. The details of the cream and brown ‘penny’ tiles creating an arched pattern on the floor also echo The Shining.

What will you be drinking, sir? – The Gold Room bar

In The Shining Jack visits the bar in the grand Gold Room and is served by Lloyd the ghostly bartender.

In the Veltz bar area, located off the entrance corridor, we find a replica bar counter complete with inset light box, a gorgeous set of shelving with brass inlay detailing and a gold fully-functional sink.

The walls are tiled with gold and the Gold Room logo appears on the wall (as it appears on the signage board outside this room in the film).

The cash register itself, refers to the 1920s version of the Gold Room scene (where Jack walks through the black-tie party). In fact, it’s exactly the same.

You can almost hear Lloyd asking from the walls of this room “What will you be drinking, sir?”.

Haven’t I seen you somewhere before? – The red bathroom

Jack cleans off his jacket, with the help of Delbert Grady in the red and white bathroom.

The Veltz’s red bathroom sits of the main entrance hallway and is a mini version of the red bathroom in the film. It features vivid red walls, red tiled walls (with white grouting), a custom-made mirror with lights and chrome fittings.

Come and play with us – The billiard room

An area for playing billiards has been created behind the main theatre (referencing the Overlook games area in the film) and combines a few different attributes from the Overlook film sets.

The famous rows of black and white photographs from the conclusion of the film hang on the wall. Candelabra wall lights which match those in the lobby, were custom made by a metal shop and sit either side of the photograph collection.

The same metal suppliers built the chandelier (that hangs above the billiard table) which is modelled on the oval chandeliers that also grace the Overlook lobby.

Here’s Johnny! – The home theatre

The pièce de résistance of the basement of this home is the 10-person theatre: A cinema of dreams (and possibly nightmares depending on what you’re watching).

Luxurious grey leather theatre seating have been installed upon a monochrome version of the Hicks Hexagon wool carpet which was custom made for this space by Film and Furniture. This colour-way was carefully chosen so as not to distract the eye during screenings and also serves to help zone the space.

The rear wall design reflects The Shining elevator lobby.

A typewriter sits on a table behind the rear row of chairs. This isn’t any old typewriter. It’s an Adler typewriter. The same brand and colour (although not the exact same model) as the typewriter on which Jack feverishly types “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” over and over (and on which Kubrick wrote the screen-play). Cianan Veltz hand-typed a large stack of pages on this typewriter, which sit proudly adjacent – such is the dedication involved in this project.

A pair of large bi-fold doors can be closed to improve the sound quality during screenings. No prizes for guessing what the first film was to be shown was on this screen!

“You started with an idea but I’m guessing you got more and more obsessed with the details as you went?” I asked. Veltz laughs, “Of course! How could you not? It really was an immersive experience… it was a real journey with lots of discoveries along the way… as you descend into this rabbit hole, more and more meanings and details come out of the woodwork, so it was really exciting to delve into that and incorporate a lot of the details which… would be lost on a lot of people”. They won’t be lost on Film and Furniture readers, that we know for sure!

I was intrigued to know what Veltz thinks is the most enduring legacy of The Shining, given the horror film continues to grow its fan base over time. His answer is thoughtfully delivered: “I think [the movie] tackles a lot of complex themes… that aren’t obvious to most, but it strikes a nerve with a lot of people. It certainly did with me, being a father of two kids, witnessing the themes of abuse and alcoholism that emerge in the film. Some of those topics are scarier than the ghosts you see in the film, and I think that’s what Kubrick brought to the film… Kubrick dove deeper into some of these darker themes…”.

What’s left to do?

As is often the case with personal projects undertaken by creative people, they never feel quite complete no matter how much time and energy has been invested. “We’re currently finishing the design and build of a console that will house the subs for the theatre and double-up as a vinyl record player. It will live directly under the screen. I really like this piece as it draws inspiration from the film but does not replicate any piece in particular” adds Veltz. And we bet he doesn’t stop there.

Watch the full tour and listen to the (unedited) interview with Jay Veltz below, in which he admits he does occasionally get spooked out in his own creation and shares where a secret ‘Redrum’ inscription is located. As Halloran says “Some places are like people: some shine and some don’t”. This place certainly shines.

With Park City, Utah also being the home of the Sundance Film Festival, film lovers might like to pay a visit. To learn more about the space and to book an overnight stay or movie tour, visit www.overlookhotelparkcity.com

Here’s the Overlook Hotel Park City official video:-