A Modern Cigar And Bourbon Hideout In Charlotte
The trendy, urban neighborhood of Charlotte’s South End is a poster child for growing, contemporary communities. Craft breweries and swanky eateries sit next to modest artisan shops, lending a curated balance of bustling development and greenspace to this area in North Carolina. This was where Joe Franco and his wife decided to build their new home, which includes an impressive, chic cigar and Bourbon room.
Franco, a senior vice president at the commercial real estate firm CBRE, has a youthful albeit direct demeanor. He and his wife moved into their 6,500 square-foot South End house in January, 2022, following a 14-month build. The couple, both in careers predicated on relationship-building, had the idea of creating an inviting, open concept home. “The whole house was built for entertaining,” says Franco. But building a cigar room, that was never part of the plan—at least at first.
“I told my wife we could either build a pool or a basement, and I tried to stay a tough guy on that. And she says ‘OK fine I want the basement because I think you’re going to be upset later on that we didn’t build the extra square footage,’” says Franco. “And I said ‘well shit, I wanted the pool. So I guess we’re doing both.’”
The plans started small, but soon grew. “It sort of snowballed on itself,” he says. First, there was the idea to include a humidor, which led to the obvious conclusion: why not have a place to smoke then? One thing led to another, and in the end, Franco ended up with a 1,600 square-foot basement that includes a main living room, a fitness center, a full bathroom, an enclosed smoking room, two Bourbon bars and a walk-in humidor that’s guarded by a secret door.
As you reach the bottom of the basement stairs in the Franco home, you enter into what feels like a modern neighborhood cigar lounge. Before you is a cordoned-off space with unavoidable olive green walls. The main room is separated from its smaller counterpart to the right, the smoking room, shielded by glass panels and a door. In your immediate view of the main room sit two studded, brown leather couches opposite one another, partitioned by a modest glass coffee table. The walls are largely bare, save for two sizable televisions. Doors lead to the bathroom and fitness room.
The Bourbon bar, immediately next to the stairs on the right, offers an array of familiar favorites: Buffalo Trace, Basil Hayden, Woodford Reserve and Angel’s Envy, to name a few. A Bourbon shortage is unlikely here.
Though this set-up seems tailor-made for a seasoned whisky vet, Franco is quick to admit he’s still learning and wants others to feel welcome to join him. “All the Bourbons I have, for the most part, they’re all open. I’ll open a bottle even if I’m not going to drink out of it. I want it to be approachable,” says Franco, noting he doesn’t want guests to feel intimidated by his offerings. “I don’t try to act like a tough guy, I’m new to all of this. So we’re really just kind of learning together with anybody that I have over.”
Franco has the same, open philosophy about his cigars. Newcomer or not, Franco boasts a smoking room that commands respect—and a dose of intrigue. At first glance, the room is just a continuation of the main space. Four brown leather chairs face one another in a circle, connected by a pair of side tables topped with ashtrays. A cylindrical gold ottoman takes the center, adding to a certain ambiance of this hideout, along with a trio of abstract, modern art paintings that successively line the back wall of the room. Beyond the door, surprises abound. Another bar, about a third the size of the first, is tucked-away to the right. The bottom half is a designated wine rack with space for about 50 bottles to rest, most of them from winemaker Orin Swift, one of Franco’s favorites. The Bourbon on-hand here is a bit more exclusive than its peers off in the main room, with bottles such as a 2019 William Larue Weller 128 proof, WhistlePig 18 and a bottle of Old Fitzgerald that was barreled in 1958 and bottled in 1968.
One would be wise not to get lost in the impressive drinks collection, as they can serve as a smoke-screen for the real main attraction of the room. As you face the bar, just to your left is a simply blank space of the olive green wall. But this wall of vagueness is what Franco calls “the coolest part of the room.” With a keycard in-hand, Franco reaches out and places the card against a seemingly random spot on the wall, then a little blue light flashes and beeps. With a gentle pull, the wall opens up, revealing the previously hidden walk-in humidor. See video below.
After taking a second to appreciate the lived-fantasy of the hidden door, you’ll soon realize an impressive humidor lies before you. Directly ahead, in true cigar lounge fashion, are rows of personal lockers Franco reserves for friends and work clients. Some even have engraved nameplates and are big enough to hold some wine, Bourbon and, of course, cigars. The rest of the humidor breaks off to the right, complete with rows of shelves modestly lined with an array of smokes. The humidor, big enough to fit a few people at once, is in the process of filling itself up. “I don’t have boxes and boxes of cigars because I wouldn’t really be able to smoke through them,” says Franco, who says he smokes about once or twice a week in his spot. Sometimes he hosts poker games here, other times it’s just buddies hanging out.
Davidoff and Oliva are among Franco’s favorite brands, and each is well represented in his humidor, but he is quick to note that he’ll “try anything.” Several boxes line the selves of Franco’s humidor as well, including Rocky Patel Number 6, La Aurora Preferidos 1903 Edition Emerald Perfecto Tubos and multiple non-Cuban Romeo y Julietas.
The lounge is not just a leisure space. Franco also uses it for work calls hosting private client meetings. “Whatever you say in here, stays in here,” he says with a chuckle. It’s not just for the boys. His wife, a cigar smoker in her own right, will join him down there as well.
“People can pop in and pop out really easily. It’s on a lot of people’s commute patterns home,” says Franco. Being located in South End makes the spot both accessible and attractive for would-be visitors coming from Charlotte, which is part of the appeal to Franco. His communal approach to cigar smoking traces back to his introduction to the hobby during the dreary days of the pandemic.
“I think somebody gave me a couple of cigars in early 2020 and then I just enjoyed them and this concept sort of compounded on itself,” says Franco. He soon found himself smoking more than one cigar a week during the peak of the pandemic, and eventually, connecting with and learning from like-minded peers at cigar shops in town. “Then I really just fell in love with the unique energy around the community and culture,” he says. For Franco, the smoking component is almost secondary to the social nature that inevitably comes with cigars. “It’s a long conversation, a long time to smoke a cigar,” says Franco. “You can drink a beer in five minutes, you can’t smoke a cigar in five minutes.”
As coincidental fate would have it, when Franco was finding his footing in the cigar world, he was also in the process of building his new home, which would eventually include a smoking sanctuary. Not a bad deal for someone completely new to cigars. “I really went long on it pretty fast,” he says with a laugh.
Do you have a cigar room worth sharing? Send us a note and some pictures at letters@cigaraficionado.com.
