ome," wrote Channing Pollock, "is the most popular, and will be the most enduring of all earthly establishments." Olevia International Group LLC took that advice to heart for its exhibit at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. When the Los Angeles-based maker of high-definition (HD) televisions wanted to increase booth traffic over the previous year's CES, it knew its exhibit would somehow have to stand out from the sensory storm of 2,700 other booths.

But instead of yet another exhibit blinking and buzzing with grand-mal intensity, Olevia constructed a home as real as any a Century 21 agent might show. With the aid of San Francisco-based Immersa Marketing Inc., Olevia positioned a pre-fab home inside its 50-by-80-foot space. The California-modern house featured a covered patio area and a 15-foot-high palm tree, which rose up through an opening in the home's cantilevered roof. Visible over the show floor, the towering palm signaled to attendees like a semaphore that here was an asylum from the cacophony of CES.

Visitors entered the five-room house through a slate patio, set in a yard covered with a 2-inch-thick faux-grass carpet. Once inside, they toured bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen outfitted with Olevia's HD TVs running movies such as "Shrek." Cozily lit with halogens and floor lamps, each room featured homey touches, including 1950s-sleek couches, tables, and chairs. After the tour, attendees and staff met on the lawn, surrounded by ficus, maple trees, and hedges of horsetail, to discuss the company's products.

By creating this hushed habitat, Olevia doubled its exhibit traffic from the previous year, well above its goal of a 10- to 20-percent increase. Ultimately, the exhibit proved that even amid the modern marvels on display at CES, there's still no place like home. e