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Editorial
Living Large
If you had to guess
which is the most “wired” home in America, you’d
probably go with the 66,000-square-foot, $53 million Pacific Northwest
lodge that Microsoft chief Bill Gates calls home outside Seattle,
WA. With the help of primary contractor Sellen Construction, architects
James Cutler and Peter Bohlin and interior designer Thierry W. Despont
have run miles of cabling—mostly fiber optic—throughout
the house (a modest seven bedrooms, but six kitchens and 24 bathrooms!).
This wiring, of course, links several computer servers throughout
the house, but more importantly it links the various rooms into
a home automation system. In each room, touch-sensitive pads control
lighting, music and climate. Visitors are expected to wear small
electronic pins, which will let the computers know who and where
they are and adjust lights and other settings accordingly—and
automatically. This is “living large.”
How many thousands of square feet (acres?) of window openings this
place must have is staggering. The 92-foot long, 63-foot high grand
staircase itself is surrounded by walls of glass, concrete and stone.
It’s hard to imagine Gates walking around in his slippers each
night closing the blinds, shades, shutters, draperies and whatever
other high-tech window coverings he has to protect his privacy.
Actually, it’s getting harder every day to imagine anyone going
room to room, window to window to adjust the treatments no matter
the size of the home. Lift systems, especially motorized systems
and controls, have made this a dying ritual. These systems keep
getting more reliable and easier to fabricate, install and operate.
To see what we mean, check out this month’s Special Section
beginning on page 41.
From the dealer’s perspectives, these upgraded systems offer
a great way to increase revenues without actually increasing the
number of products sold or installations scheduled. For the homeowner,
they are becoming more “necessary.” Once they get a feel
for them, they won’t do without them. Most of us sit close
enough to our cable TV or satellite box to change channels manually,
but would we ever actually do that?
Gates’ cozy little compound would definitely be considered
the height of home automation and offers us a working model of where
home systems are headed. While not too many of your customers are
going to be Bill Gates’ caliber, most of them can live like
him—at least a little.
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