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Hot Properties (pt 1) by Jessie Scanlon
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Stacks of equipment, piles of remotes, a rat's nest of Ethernet cables - the wired life can get ugly. But a new school of home design is finding creative ways to combine tech and aesthetics. This is a series of four articles featured in My Finer Homes which show how geek palaces can be elegant, comfortable, and tasteful. |
The Rockies |
| Re-printed with permission: By Jessie Scanlon |
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Nestled in the shadow of Aspen Mountain, with postcard-perfect views of Colorado's peaks, this weekend getaway - built by a tech investor and his wife - manages to be all things to all people: It's utterly livable, it's a kid's fantasy (complete with a fully loaded game room and a sleepover den for 12), and it's perfect for parties (a 64-speaker system ensures that guests will hear the toasts even if they're on the patio). Chalk it up to clever design, thousands of wires, and some 52,000 lines of custom code. |
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Moving Picture
A Sharp 1,280 x 720 scan projector drops from the ceiling.
Screen Saver
An 8-foot GrayHawk screen (from the Imax screen makers) descends from the millwork.
Rack Time
Wooden cabinets hold custom racks made to rotate out for easy upgrades. They hide a laundry list of components: a DVD player, satellite receiver, DirecTV box, TiVo, Xbox, PS2, speakers, amps, and subwoofers.
Total Control
An AMX touchscreen tablet controls lights, window shades, temp, and music in 18 zones. |
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Thermally conductive roof panels and subsurface piping along the walkways melt snow and ice |
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A concealed scanner under the doorbell reads fingerprints and unlocks the door for family members and regular visitors |
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Skylights fill the stairwell with daylong natural light from four roof-mounted mirrors - aka heliostats - that track the sun |
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The chef can watch a live feed from the dining room on a 9-inch fold-down monitor to know when it's time to offer seconds |
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The trash shed has vents that pipe odors 50 feet away, keeping bears foraging for scraps far from the house |
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At high altitude, low air pressure can affect the neon-xenon gas in plasmas, making a buzzing noise. This NEC tweaks the gas to avoid this |
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To help visitors rest easy, an oxygen line supplies master and guest bedrooms, ensuring sea level conditions at nearly 8,000 feet |
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The chimney doubles as a 35-foot rock-climbing wall, designed by engineer and renowned climber Neal Beidleman |
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