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Inside a real-life spy lair
By Morgan Brennan of Forbes
H. Keith Melton's mansion
Boca Raton, Fla.
Intelligence historian and author H. Keith Melton has made this Boca Raton compound his own. A design homage to art deco and the Machine Age, the 12,000-square-foot-plus compound has taken 15 years to craft. The largest private collector of spy memorabilia in the world, Melton has created a home and accompanying private museum filled with artifacts, design themes and construction materials a spy would be sure to covet.
From the curb, Melton's clandestine abode — on a typical South Florida cul-de-sac — blends in with the neighbors.
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Inside a real-life spy lair
Ballroom
The 1,350-square-foot ballroom is made of hand-hammered stainless steel that took two years to shape and install.
"The design inspiration for this room is the nose cone of a zeppelin," Melton says.
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Inside a real-life spy lair
Disney-inspired?
The ballroom's TV area is furnished with chairs reproduced from the ones that once adorned Walt Disney's office.
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Copper Room
The parlor, called the Copper Room, is used for hosting small gatherings. All of the copper was hand-fashioned, right down to the anchoring bolts.
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Dining room
The dining room also features an interesting ceiling.
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Paraphernalia
The mask used in the film "The Rocketeer" is part of Melton's collection and is shown off in the home.
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Master bathroom
The master bath boasts a recessed ceiling spigot and waterfall-edge sides that allow the water to be recycled through.
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Designer chairs
The home is decorated in furniture imbued with mid-20th-century American history, including chairs designed by art deco designer Warren McArthur.
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Hughes-inspired
One of the two guest suites on the lower level, this bedroom was fashioned after Howard Hughes' bedroom during the 1940s.
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Vintage find
The collector displays vintage artifacts from the 1930s and 1940s throughout the home. Decorations such as this early projector are steeped in story.
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Garage
The three-car garage hosts a salvaged neon sign.
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Nearly 30 years old
Built by a party-throwing Italian diplomat in 1985, the compound's backyard has an in-ground pool and bandstand that once hosted a crooning Frank Sinatra.
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Spy museum
A second structure occupies Melton's Florida compound. Formerly a guardhouse, the two-story building serves as a private museum that hosts about 20 guests from the intelligence community each year. It is the permanent home of the collector's roughly 9,000 espionage artifacts.
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Secret wall
The museum holds 37 secret concealments, including one here in this wall.
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Secret stairs
One of the secret compartments in the museum's first floor opens to a staircase leading to a second floor. Here Melton catalogs his massive collection.
One of Melton's most high-profile artifacts is the ice ax used to assassinate Communist leader Leon Trotsky.
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