This custom home, built by L. Cramer Builders + Remodelers, on Gull Lake features a multitude of technology elements, including whole-house audio, a lighting control system, custom television installations, and an extensive collection of motorized window treatments utilizing Hartmann & Forbes natural hand-woven materials.

The audio system consists of a mix of discrete in-ceiling speakers placed strategically throughout the home, along with a series of on-wall outdoor all-weather speakers on the exterior patios. The system allows the owner to select from a myriad of online music services with the ability to choose which rooms the music plays in and at what volume – the whole house can listen to Christmas music or just one room can rock out to Billy Joel.

The lighting control system was based on a centralized design, where the lighting circuits were home run to dedicated ‘lighting panels’ and regular light switches were eliminated and replaced with intelligently programmed keypads. A single button press can illuminate the entire home or set a pre-configured lighting “scene,” “Cooking” in the Kitchen, for example. The owner’s have keypads at their bedside with presets for turning the exterior lights on or off, illuminating a pathway to the bathroom, or grabbing a snack from the kitchen. A whole house off “Goodbye” button turns the entire home off when they’re leaving.

The extensive window treatment system was based on Crestron’s QMT brushless digital motor shading system. For fabric selection the owner picked materials for Hartmann & Forbes, who specialize in hand-weaving naturally grown grass-fiber materials, the result of which is that every shade in this home is a truly one-of-a-kind creation. The shades provide a mix of privacy from the road-side of the home and light blocking on the lake side. The Master Bedroom features a dual shade system that combines one shade for blackout purposes and another for privacy, each shade is independently controllable. All of the shades were installed in designated pockets above each window, ensuring the motors and mounting hardware was completely invisible and the fabric simply drops out of a carefully measured slit in the bottom side opening.

All of this technology was integrated into a Crestron home automation system, providing the owner’s a simple and intuitive user interface from which to operate the technology for the home. All components are located in a central mechanical room of the home, ensuring easy service for years to come.