Reconstructing The Past: A Cigar Room Of Yesteryear In Canada

[JohnS]

I simply love having a look at how enthusiasts plan, design and construct their cigar rooms (or dens) according to their differing and individual tastes. The one below celebrates the cigar rooms of yesteryear. Check it out...

Reconstructing The Past: A Cigar Room Of Yesteryear In Canada

Feb 22, 2024 By Garrett Rutledge

Ernie Holmberg's cigar room looks as if it has remained undisturbed since the days of the Gilded Age—save for a few bright LED lights.

A cigar room is the ultimate escape, a dedicated space that offers a reprieve from the grind of everyday life with the simple solace of a fine cigar. But some cigar spaces can be more than just a place to get away, some can take us into an entirely different world, like traveling back in time. Up in the frigid environs of Alberta, Canada, cigar lover Ernie Holmberg, 73, created such a world, a small space stuck in the days of what once was. Holmberg built a smoking room that’s remarkably reminiscent of a 19th century study, tailor-made for cigar-smoking.

Building and curating this cigar room was no easy task and Holmberg went to great lengths to source much of his furnishings, intent on finding the perfect items for his vision. But he was no rookie: this isn’t Holmberg’s first cigar room.

The cigar room is full of antique items, perhaps none more impressive than this old-school rifle cabinet converted into a functioning humidor.

It all started on a cold winter night with some limited-edition Perdomo cigars and a cherished bottle of Louis XIII Cognac, gifted to Holmberg by a friend. “We’re in our garage in January, it’s 20 something degrees below zero Celius,” says Holmberg. “So we’re smoking this great cigar and sipping on this Cognac, and man, we were freezing, shivering and stuff.” A few days later, Holmberg shared the story with his buddy, who happens to be a contractor, who was at the house. He found it amusing, then suggested a solution—have Holmberg create a smoking room. After a quick demonstration, the contractor was able to show Holmberg there was more than enough space in his basement. Following a short deliberation, the cigar room project was given the green light.

The cigar room worked for three and a half years, but it was short lived. Recently, it became time for Holmberg to relocate, and he was fearful of losing his prized space. “It’s going to tear my heart out to leave this place behind,” he said to his contractor friend, who came to his aid once more, setting out to replicate Holmberg’s treasured space in a new home. 

The complete renovation of the new residence, which included the cigar room, began in September 2023 and lasted until early December. The room itself, while aesthetically grand, is a relatively modest space measuring 13 feet by 12 feet. The room is accessed via the basement, and is guarded by a large, masculine, ominous-looking brown door that almost seems humorously out of place. Yet this is precisely what creates the captivating allure of the space, and the insatiable need to know what lies within. The room behind the door magnifies the attraction, almost like it has been in place for ages and the rest of the house has been built around it.

It would be an understatement to say the cigar room door stands out from the rest of Holmberg's basement, but that only adds to the mystique.

“We tried to theme it after a 1920’s, 1930’s speakeasy, an Al Capone kind of thing,” says Holmberg. 

The room required some serious work to reach its final condition. Holmberg’s contractor started by framing the space, then insulating the room on the walls and ceiling with spray foam to help with smoke management before putting in the drywall. Holmberg also has a Braun fan to suck out smoke and an electric air purification system on the floor.

The walls are finished with wainscoting that took Holmberg on a journey to find, as he scoured through numerous local lumber companies to find matching molding. In all the panels, in each corner of the wainscoting, the painter airbrushed black trimmings to create an aged look. The gorgeous and intricate ceiling tiles were sourced by Holmberg all the way from India. 

As you enter the room, there to greet you first, is a wooden, half-moon table stacked with cigar boxes, with a mounted flat screen television above. Further back in front you, a commanding fireplace and mantle grab your attention. The fireplace, while it has the appearance of an old relic, is actually electric and steam-generated. 

The TV is one of the few items distinctly from present-day in the room, but we can't blame Ernie for including it.

A large, square painting hangs above the fireplace and unmistakably depicts a large bottle of Louis XIII Cognac beside a poured glass and a smoking cigar. The painting was done by Michael Godard, a popular artist known for his paintings of life's vices. Holmberg has a few Godard paintings in his possession, including another in the room. 

Flanking either side of the painting, is a pair of rare, solid brass light sconces Holmberg found at an estate sale in Calgary of a home that was built in the 1920’s. “As soon as I saw these things, I had to have them,” says Holmberg, who’s notably partial to light fixtures among all the unique finds within the room. However, these unique items aren’t the only source of lighting in the room. Alongside an old lamp in the far corner, Holmberg installed multi-colored LED lights throughout the mantle, fireplace and shelves, which along with the TV, are about the only representations of the modern world in this room. 

On the mantle, Holmberg has a few authentic tobacco leaf cutters, an old cigar press he found in an antique shop and a cigar-smoking sculpture, among other things. On the shelves scattered to the sides of the mantle, you’ll see loads of fine spirit bottles, a pair of table top humidors and even a couple figurines of men playing musical instruments. Holmberg’s cherished bottle of Louis XIII Cognac sits alone on a shelf in the top right corner, and sometimes the case it sits in is glowing white, as if it's a gift from the heavens. 

Across from the fireplace, in the corner away from the door, sit two brown leather chairs. Like everything else, acquiring them was no easy task and constituted many unfruitful trips to antique furniture stores. “Then one day I’m online and I see something that says ‘aficionado cigar chairs,’” says Ernie with a laugh. “They were expensive as hell but I had to have them.”

Holmberg's leather chairs look built for cigar-smoking and comfort. It's no wonder he spends so much time down in the room.

Between the chairs, a tall cabinet holds court in the corner of the room. At first glance, this looks like your run-of-the-mill cabinet humidor, loaded up with boxes of fine cigars. But this is a piece of furniture with some history to it, as it was originally a rifle cabinet, one you may have seen in the 19th or early 20th centuries. Now, it's been repurposed, lined with Spanish cedar on the inside and serves as a fully-functioning humidor. 

Next to the chair closest to the door, is Holmberg’s fourth and final humidor in the room. The standalone humidor resembles a small-sized cabinet humidor, with plenty of space for boxes and room for single sticks organized on the top. The wooded structure is joined by glass panels on the sides and top, giving a clear view into the inventory that lies within. Just above this small humidor, keeping with Holmberg’s antique theme, is an old crank telephone hanging from the wall. 

The careful curation on Holmberg’s part only adds to the aura of this special smoking spot. “I get lost in this room,” says Holmberg. “When you walk in the room, it’s like you go back in time or something.” Holmberg isn’t the only one who gets to enjoy the spoils, his contractor comes over quite often to have a cigar as well. After building two cigar rooms, it’s safe to say he’s earned his right. Guests or not, Holmberg says he uses the room just about every night. “Usually it’s around 9 o’clock at night, and I don’t get out of here until midnight or 1 o’clock in the morning,” he says.

The antique telephone on the wall seems like the most foreign and ancient item from today's standards, though Holmberg likely has older trinkets somewhere in the room.

To spend that much time in a smoking room, one undoubtedly has to have a cigar inventory to match, and Holmberg certainly does. Following a recent trip to the Dominican Republic, Holmberg’s inventory is freshly revitalized. “I specifically wanted to go down there and secure an Andalusian Bull,” says Holmberg, referring to the La Flor Dominicana cigar that’s been hard to find since it was named Cigar of the Year. He was able to get his hands on a few after years of searching. He estimates he has 300 to 400 cigars on hand, “a varied collection from the cheap stuff to the nice stuff,” he says. The Canadian is open-minded when it comes to cigars and is willing to smoke just about anything. He did note his partiality towards a few Dominican powerhouses like La Flor Dominicana, Davidoff and Arturo Fuente. Even though he has access in Canada, he says he has been wary of Cubans lately due to price hikes and an influx in counterfeits. 

Holmberg can’t remember when he started smoking cigars, a point of irritation for him, but he believes it was sometime in his 30s when he started playing a lot of golf. He believes he’s been puffing for “a good 40 years” but he only considers himself an avid smoker for the last 25 years or so. 

Holmberg's beloved bottle of Louis XIII Cognac sits in a case that magnifies its presence.

Holmberg’s introduction into Cigar Aficionado years back may have played a role in his cigar-smoking progression, although it occurred as a matter of coincidence. Holmberg and his wife were on a plane departing for a vacation, when upon takeoff, an issue of Cigar Aficionado came sliding down below the seats right to Holmberg. “So I said to my wife ‘hey look at this Cigar Aficionado magazine,’ loud enough for the people in front of us to hear,” says Holmberg, but no one turned around to claim their missing issue. So Holmberg began reading. He remembers reading a story and seeing a tabletop Arturo Fuente lighter in one of the photos, and he instantly fell in love with the accessory. But years went by and he was never able to find it.

Fast forward to a few years later: Holmberg is in Las Vegas with his wife when he sees the Casa Fuente cigar lounge and immediately decides he needs to go in to buy some OpusX cigars. “When I went to the counter to pay for the cigars, guess what’s sitting right on the counter? One of the Fuente cigar lighters,” says Holmberg. He convinced his wife to let it be his Christmas gift. That’s the same time he decided to start subscribing to Cigar Aficionado. He hasn’t looked back since and even gets a subscription each year for his son in Ontario. Quite a few editions have made their way into his gorgeous cigar room.

Next up is Cigar Aficionado’s Big Smoke event, something Holmberg calls a “bucket list” item. “I really, really want to go to the Big Smoke in Las Vegas,” he says. He travels to Sin City often and has tried to make the Big Smoke work many times over the years, but for whatever reason, the timing hasn’t worked. Holmberg hopes this year is different, maybe he’ll get a few souvenirs worthy of his room as well. 

Ernie Holmberg, admiring his Godard painting while donning a smoking robe and (of course) smoking a cigar.

Whether it’s his introduction into Cigar Aficionado or creating his dream cigar space, the pieces of the puzzle seem to find each other for Holmberg. “I can’t explain it,” he says. “Everything just seems to fall in place.”

Source: https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/reconstructing-the-past-a-cigar-room-of-yesteryear-in-canada

[KCCubano]

I like it! Well done

[Cigar Surgeon]

It's a nice layout, the only feedback I'd have is that the television is mounted up too high.  

[Hammer Smokin']

Love it. Even with all that wealth he knows Cuban cigars cost too much and are no longer worth it. 

if you are alienating customers like that - you are doing it wrong!

What a wonderful room. 

[Puros Y Vino]

Amazing! This is what I envision as an ideal cigar room.