Treasure caves
What’s in the garage?
Women are some of our biggest customers. They buy a lot of presents here for their men. Bruce Stallworthy, man cave supplier.
In a secret location is a man cave of seriously enviable quality. It’s owner was willing to speak, and share images of his man space, but only on condition of strict anonymity.
And no wonder. His garage is home to an auto-centred treasure-trove of Americana that contains unique irreplaceable items, many worth a lot of money.
But when asked whether it’s adequately insured, there’s a bit of a pause.
He’s done some of the right things, including doing a walkaround film to show the wealth he’s collected on his travels through America, which earlier this year took him through places like Texas that were battered by hurricane Irma.
The cars are insured, but he hasn’t priced the rest, or checked his contents cover is enough to replace it all, should it be lost in a fire, or cleared out by burglars.
Under some insurance policies there may be a risk that the Americana would be deemed a ‘‘collection’’ with the policy setting a maximum limit on how much the insurer would have to pay if it was lost.
There are a great many man caves in the country, as well as a fair few she-sheds, and shespaces.
Two-thirds of Kiwis use their garage or shed for more interesting things than parking a car, Aaron Dickinson from AA Insurance says.
AA Insurance regularly gets claims for damage to man cave items, but Dickinson warned man cavers to review their contents cover to ensure it was adequate as their man cave developed.
AA Insurance does set policy limits on jewellery, art, stamps and coins, but some insurers do set limits on other kinds of collections too, he says, so it pays to read your policy, or call and check with your insurer.
How much kit a man cave can contain is indicated by the man cave prize in the Blue September offer from Farmers.
It contains a 55’’ smart TV that sells for $4700 with a $1400 curves soundbar, an $800 sound system, a $6600 reclining ‘‘theatre sofa’’ and $2400 reclining chair, among other luxury items.
The Ultimate Man Cave online shop sells pool tables, poker tables, Foosball tables and even old-fashioned stand-up video arcade games that can easily take the fitting out of top-end man caves into the thousands of dollars.
When you go on insurers’ online contents calculators, which guide policyholders through the pricing out of the things in each of their rooms, there’s living room, dining room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, but no ‘‘man cave’’.
But Bruce Stallworthy, who runs one of the oldest dedicated man cave shops in the country, the simply-named Mancave in KeriKeri, says some people spend a fortune on their man spaces.
But some create astounding man caves at little cost, or at least on a modern budget.
Though the concept of a man cave has been dubbed sexist by British newspaper The Independent, Stallworthy said women tend to enthusiastically support their menfolk in setting them up.
‘‘They want to escape from us as well, even though we haven’t worked that out.’’
A good proportion of the customers at Mancave are women, and many men setting up their man space bring their wives along to help them pick out their manly accoutrement.
‘‘Women are some of our biggest customers. They buy a lot of presents here for their men,’’ he said.