A Barton Creek Home with Technology You Don't See

At a glance

• Area: Barton Creek
• The project: a remodel down to the studs, with a second floor added
• Lighting: Lutron HomeWorks with Ketra, custom linear lighting and Palladiom keypads in every room
• Shades: Lutron motorized shades hidden in removable millwork pockets and in the crown molding
• Audio and video: small-aperture architectural speakers inside, plus a full outdoor entertainment area
• Access and security: UniFi Access at the gates and courtyard, with facial recognition and per-person codes
• Outdoors on Lutron: audio and video, misters, pool lights, the fire wall, landscape lighting and fountains
• Today: on a Smarter Homes System Support Agreement

From studs to finish

The owners came to us through neighbors we had already worked for. They had bought the home and were taking it down to the studs, adding a second floor along the way. The project went through more than one builder. Smarter Homes was one of the only teams that stayed from the very beginning to the very end.

The scope grew in phases. Change orders added Ketra lighting and motorized shades as the design came together, and every phase was built on the same Lutron system.

Technology that doesn't look like technology

The owners wanted the home to have technology without looking like it. That set the rules for every room: no visible shade rollers, no large speaker grilles and no clutter on the walls.

We chose Lutron, HomeWorks and Ketra for low maintenance. The ceilings are high, and nobody wants to climb a ladder to change bulbs. Ketra also shifts color temperature naturally through the day, cool and bright at noon and warm in the evening. The speakers were chosen for looks: small-aperture grilles that disappear into the ceiling. See lighting control and whole-home audio.

Shades hidden in the millwork

Many of the shades sit in custom millwork pockets built into the window frames. The millwork is removable, so a shade can be serviced years from now without tearing anything out. It was a new solution for our team, worked out with the millwork shop. Other shades drop down from inside the crown molding. When the shades are up, you don't see them at all. See motorized shades.

Buttons, not apps

The owners would rather press a button than open an app, so there are Lutron Palladiom keypads everywhere, each engraved with exactly the words they wanted and set up to work exactly the way they wanted.

The same thinking applies at the gate. The courtyard gate holds open on a daytime schedule. If they want it shut, one press on a handheld Lutron Pico remote suspends the schedule and closes the gate.

Linear lighting built to last

The homeowners and their interior designers designed the linear lighting, and we deployed it with Magpie Electrical Services. Smarter Homes led the panelized lighting and all of the linear control.

• Every linear run has its own 24 V driver, sized for its length and maximum run with headroom to spare.
• Everything uses reverse-phase dimming, so the lights dim smoothly to 5% or less.
• Every control in the home is a Lutron Palladiom keypad.

Discreet inside, intelligent outside

Inside, everything stays quiet and out of sight. Outside, it's the opposite. A home this size has landscapers, maintenance crews and housekeepers coming and going every day, so the owners wanted as much intelligence at the perimeter as possible. UniFi Access with facial recognition and individual codes logs each person by identity as they come and go. See security systems.

Outdoor living on one keypad

We deployed all of the outdoor entertainment: the patio TV, the ceiling speakers and the landscape speakers. The Lutron system and keypads also run the patio misters, the pool lights, the fire wall, all of the landscape lighting, and the water features and fountains.

When something goes wrong

On a highly custom project, many trades touch the same finishes. When paint and putty got on shade fabric, or new millwork started rubbing a shade roller, we showed that everything had been working when we left. Then we fixed it: new fabric and rollers on the existing motors.

When breakers tripped and a TV shut off, we traced how that TV got its power and what was actually failing. Most recently, the landscape lights kept tripping breakers and GFCIs, even though another team had installed that circuit. We proposed a better way to power the landscape lighting that takes the GFCI out of the picture entirely, and took on the fix ourselves.

Support after the install

The owners are on a System Support Agreement. They can call or text any time, day or night, and most changes, like a new scene, a schedule or a keypad tweak, happen remotely without rolling a truck. See support agreements.

Questions

Can motorized shades be completely hidden?

Yes. Shades can sit in millwork pockets in the window frame or drop from the crown molding. We plan the pocket size with the millwork shop and make the panels removable, so the shades can be serviced later.

Can Lutron control things besides lights and shades?

Yes. In this home, Lutron keypads also run the outdoor audio and video, the misters, the pool lights, the fire wall, the landscape lighting and the fountains.

Is Smarter Homes a Lutron dealer?

Yes. Smarter Homes is Lutron and Ketra Qualified, and was a Gold level Lutron dealer at the time of this project.

Do you work in Barton Creek?

Yes. See our Barton Creek page, or book a showroom visit at 5524 Bee Caves Rd, Unit J8, West Lake Hills.