Design & Technology Gallery: Flipping Out on Smart Tech

A love of music is what put interior designer Mariana Savage on a path toward a smarter, more comfortable home. So was infusing her new, completely redesigned 3,000-square-foot townhome with her own personal flair, which she describes as “modern eclectic with traditional finishes.” The two—awesome whole-house audio and amazing interior design—united as one recently during a radical flip of a home built in the 80s, and the results are stunning both in form and function.

The decision to pepper her private summer residence with loudspeakers didn’t come easy to Savage, though. “Frankly, I was really concerned that they would conflict with the decor.” After all, more than five zones of audio consisting of 10 speakers would be installed throughout the residence, so her apprehension was justified. That was until Anthony Petrone, of Petrone Technology Group, a home systems integration firm in Wellington, Fla., showed her the type of speaker he would be using for the project. The GC6 “Ghost” speaker from TruAudio features a bezel that measures just 2 millimeters wide. This means that when it’s mounted in the ceiling it blends in cleanly with the ceiling surface. As for the speaker grilles, Petrone painted them to match the ceiling. “You can’t even tell that they are there,” Savage says.

The five speakers that partner with a 75-inch Samsung TV in the family room (there’s a second home theater setup in the master bedroom) to create a surround-sound system are just as kind to the interior style. Rather than mar the walls around the TV with five separate speakers, Petrone mounted one slim, sleek Bose soundbar underneath the TV that can deliver all surround-sound channels using reflection technology. The only part of the home theater that “stands out” is the TV. And this was fine with Savage. Each TV was mounted to an articulating mount so that it can be pulled away from the wall and pivoted in different directions. “Situated away from the wall slightly, it adds visual dimension to the room,” Petrone says.

Of course, speakers are only part of the audio equation. There were a plethora of audio components to blend into the design, too. This was the easy part, though, as Petrone simply tucked them into a closet upstairs. Low voltage and speaker wiring, which was fished throughout the townhome during the renovation, delivers audio and video from these components to every speaker and TV. The delivery of music also happens wirelessly, as tunes from Pandora, Rhapsody, and other Internet music services can be streamed with a click on one of the handy mobile devices that float around Savage’s home. Absolutely no touchpanels or keypads pockmark the walls, as an RTI app on iPad minis and iPhones and customized by Petrone direct music and video to wherever Savage wants it. The commands travel from the handheld controls to the appropriate components over Wi-Fi, so Petrone made sure to outfit Savage’s house with a robust networking system from Luxul. Even when she’s relaxing outside, commands from her iPhone never get lost in transit.

With nary a piece of high-tech hardware in sight, this home’s elegant design inspires people to sit, relax, and socialize. But when Savage taps a button on her iPad, it’s the amazing audio and video that makes her guests want to stay and enjoy this radically flipped, smart, stylish home. EH

Back to Smart Home Gallery