Smart home systems professionals know that few sales tools are more persuasive than a live, working demonstration. While sleek showrooms and curated vignettes help clients envision life in a smart home, nothing compares to the real thing. Taking this approach to heart, Gordon van Zuiden of Daisy (formerly cyberManor) in Los Gatos, California, revamped the firm’s 1,300-square-foot Silicon Valley smart home showroom and listed it on Airbnb to serve as one of the most interactive showrooms in the industry.
Unlike traditional showrooms, this tech’ed out bungalow serves as both a showcase home and a guest rental, offering visitors a hands-on experience with everything from voice-activated scenes and motorized shades to whole-house audio and advanced surveillance.
Silicon Valley Airbnb Serves as Extensive Smart Home Showcase
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At just 1,300 square feet, the smart bungalow is affectionately known as a “mini mansion.” While small in size, it mirrors the room count and feature set of much larger custom homes, just scaled down with each room outfitted to showcase specific smart home capabilities.
In this double-duty showroom and Airbnb smart home rental, Control4 manages centralized lighting, audio and video, motorized shades, climate control, entry, gates, surveillance, garage gates, outdoor heating, skylights and ceiling fans, irrigation and smart appliances.
Plus, expanded Apple Home integration allows the system to support formerly standalone devices like Kohler’s touchless faucet, further expanding the reach of the smart home ecosystem.
This broad interoperability has allowed van Zuiden to demonstrate the full scope of a smart home’s capabilities to builders, designers, and end-users, all under one roof.
“This format helps our builder partners and clients visualize how these systems would work in their own homes,” notes van Zuiden.
100 Guests and Counting
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Since the Silicon Valley smart home became available on Airbnb, nearly 100 guests from around the world have stayed in the Silicon Valley smart home. The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly from those new to home automation. A recent guest described it as “a luxurious user-friendly smart home that features a fully integrated system.”
According to van Zuiden, voice activation reigns as a guest favorite for a fuss-free mode of control. Saying the phrase “I’m home” raises the shades, turns on lights and music, adjusts climate settings, and activates the backyard fountain. Meanwhile, the phrase “I’m leaving” powers everything down and locks the doors.
Equally impressive is a passive energy scene triggered when the indoor temperature hits 78 degrees Fahrenheit. It opens skylights and activates a smart ceiling fan, delaying the need for AC and conserving energy stored in the home’s Sonnen battery.
“These scenes create both a ‘wow’ factor and real energy savings,” comments van Zuiden.
The new Control4 X4 platform has also been a hit with guests and visitors. Running in the home for several months, its redesigned home screen, customizable widgets, and quick access to live Luma camera feeds make for a rich, responsive control experience.
Daisy’s ‘Mini-Mansion’ Emphasizes Ease of Use From Front to Back
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In the interest of client ease of use, van Zuiden’s team selected Control4’s Halo Touch remotes for key rooms like the media room and master bedroom. With fewer physical buttons and an intuitive touchscreen interface, van Zuiden figured the Halo Touch would simplify navigation for first-time users.
The team also sought to simplify gate and entry control, which can be critical for both client satisfaction and sense of safety when it comes to designing a rental property.
Beyond that, the home is secured by an advanced suite of Luma Surveillance cameras featuring 2K resolution and built-in AI analytics through Luma Insights. These intelligent systems can accurately detect and differentiate between people, vehicles, non-motorized vehicles, packages, and pets.
Daisy explains that with Luma Insights, users can easily view live video, search footage, and replay events directly within the Control4 app to provide instant awareness of activity around the home. For enhanced functionality, the standalone Luma View app offers even more advanced surveillance settings, greater customization options, instant video sharing, and more on their preferred mobile device.
In addition to Control4 and Luma, the home integrates a full suite of ADI | Snap One technologies including Triad speakers for whole-home and media room audio, WattBox IP-controlled outlets for power conditioning and remote reboot and Access Networks routers and wireless access points fully integrated with the OvrC remote management system..
Client Reactions Validate Smart Home Potential
Daisy’s Silicon Valley smart Airbnb bungalow is both a showroom and a test bed for integrated home automation. The project demonstrates how a Control4-based ecosystem, backed by ADI | Snap One’s brand portfolio, the property provides guests with an intuitive experience for even the most tech-wary users.
“In the end,” concludes van Zuiden, “our goal was to show that smart homes don’t have to be complicated. They just have to be smart.”
