August 4, 2003

TECHNOLOGY EDITOR

You're leaving the house for the day. You grab your things, hop into the car and back out of the garage. Then you pick up a device that looks like a four-button version of your car-lock remote control and punch a "goodbye" button.

The garage door closes. Inside the house, all the exterior doors are bolted shut, all windows close and lock, drapes swing closed over west-facing windows, the temperature control adjusts to a more frugal level, and the lights are turned off.

This is the "smart home" – not of the future, but of today.

It may not take you much time to do all this yourself, but it would be a significant savings in time, energy and worry if you were living in one 8,900-square-foot home in particular that is part of this year's Sycuan Tour d'Elegance in Chula Vista.

The house, one of five mansions on display through Sunday at The Gates at The Woods in EastLake, incorporates a level of technology light-years beyond that of any of the other homes. Yet it seems remarkably familiar.

Concepto Design Group International, the home's designer, turned to Custom Home Control of Temecula for the technology to match CDGI's vision of a contemporary luxury home.

The house, which sold for more than $3 million, is a symphony of curving lines, metal, stone and glass, with a view of Upper Otay Reservoir and the mountains of East County.

"We wanted the house to be really on the cutting edge," Francisco Mendiola said. Mendiola is co-owner of CDGI, which served as architect, interior designer and landscaper for the house.

"Technology, the shape of the house, the architecture should reflect the times . . . the world we're living in today," Mendiola said.

What the visitor doesn't see is as impressive as the view.

Beginning with security, there are positions for eight cameras, which can be monitored from any of the display screens, from the 133-inch HDTV screen in the home theater to the 61-inch plasma TVs in the family room and master bedroom. Turn on the fountain and watch the water begin dancing outside. Screen visitors at the front door without leaving the bedroom.

The door locks use the same switching technology as car-door locks, and the windows are fitted with small, individual motors for opening and closing, again similar to automobile technology.

There are built-in safety features in case of a fire or loss of power, so a homeowner need not fear being trapped inside or left with no security in a storm.

The same technology that controls a clothes washer's temperature and water level was used to allow a homeowner to fill the master bathtub without it overflowing – and at the perfect temperature. The bath can be turned on from downstairs or even programmed from work.

Digital music can be programmed to play throughout the house on the 26 pairs of speakers or in any of the 15 audio "zones." Computers also control the multiple temperature zones for heating and air conditioning, the fireplaces, the pool and spa, the gates and the sprinklers.

Windows for windows

This elaborate system seems over the top for an average home, but Custom Home Control says it isn't. The technology is based on widely available consumer products any homeowner could obtain.

For instance, mounted on a wall or banister in every room of the CDGI home is a Dell Axiom Pocket PC handheld computer, available for less than $200 each.

These miniature computers use Windows CE software to access any of the home's features through a Web-based system designed by Custom Home Control. Any machine with the technology to access the Internet can be programmed to access the home's features, from the home theater to the 22-inch, flat-screen TV in the kitchen.

This means you can be watching a DVD on the master bathroom's 15-inch LCD touch screen, but switch in a moment to the security camera view of the front door.

The company's system uses a Web server and a computer loaded with Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system. The system can use both wired and wireless technology to communicate with the various devices and features in the home.

And, unlike earlier smart-home technology, anyone familiar with the Internet or with Windows computers will find the learning curve is easier than most.

The home's Web page includes such headings as My TV and My Music. You can mouse your way through the menus, and do so from anywhere in the house.

Security options

The system's security is similar to that of any Web-based system. Depending on the wishes of the homeowner, it can be protected by a software firewall, but is accessible from any Internet connection. It also can be set up as an intranet, with no outside Web access, or it can be set up to be accessed by one secure outside computer, such as a work computer.

All the computers are fully functional, which means you can use them for e-mail and instant messaging, to write a report or create a spreadsheet. Imagine a slide show of vacation photos displayed on the 133-inch projector screen. This adaptability is essential to Custom Home Control's system. Less-ambitious homeowners can start out with a Windows XP Media Center Edition computer and build on, with the help of the company's HTML-based software, control of such increasingly common features as digital temperature controls and digital sprinkler systems. Wireless light controls are already available and could be programmed to work through a home's Web page.