Cigar Chic

The Wall Street Journal turned its attention recently to Arkansas in an article headlined “These Dens are Smoking,” which featured a photo of stogie-chomping Fayetteville attorney Jim Smith.

According to the publication, cigar aficionados with the means are increasingly willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to create elegant and elaborate smoking rooms, designed to keep smoke away from others, in their homes.

Some features inside Smith’s den, which cost $25,000, include sealed and finished wood on the floors, walls and ceiling, as well as an energy-recovery ventilation system, or ERV.

High-end home builder Lee Scarlett, president of Celtic Custom Homes of Fayetteville, was also mentioned in the article. He’s built several smoking rooms in the area, including Smith’s elaborate den, and also has a cigar den in his own home. It cost about $20,000.

We just had to know — how did the WSJ and Smith make a connection? Particularly for such a unique story?

“I got a call from Laila Kearney with the WSJ about a month ago,” Smith wrote in an email. “She had somehow connected with Lee Scarlett and was visiting with him about things that he had put in some of his homes throughout the years. Lee built my home for us back in 2004. From what I gather, he mentioned my cigar room and Laila told him that she was about to run a story on cigar rooms and asked for my contact information. 

“She gave me a call, interviewed me over the phone and then told me she wanted to have a photographer come out and take pictures of it for the article. I thought there were just going to be pictures of the cigar room itself and was surprised to see my picture in the Wall Street Journal,” Smith said.