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Art Collector Controls Waterfront Home With ELAN

With exquisite artwork, a comprehensive wine collection, and a keen eye for modern design, two Sarasota, FL homeowners decided to push their smart home beyond industry convention.

With exquisite artwork, a comprehensive wine collection, and a keen eye for modern design, two Sarasota, FL homeowners decided to push their smart home beyond industry convention. To enhance the home’s art, architecture, and interior design with modern technology, they put their 17,000-square-foot home in the hands of SmartHouse Integration’s Mark van den Broek to install a complete home management infrastructure that fuses new-wave design with modern smart home functionality. At the center of it all is an ELAN Entertainment and Control System that serves as the home’s central hub to guarantee complete control and remote accessibility. 

“Beyond installing the usual smart home functions, such as temperature, lighting, audio/video and security control, I was called upon to utilize lighting to emphasize and highlight the homeowner’s displayed art collection,” van den Broek said. “This project showcases how technology integration truly merges with interior design.”

To serve as the backbone of the entire smart home infrastructure, van den Broek installed an ELAN System Controller, accessible through eight ELAN 7-inch in-wall touchpanels, four smaller ELAN touchpanels, and three ELAN HR2 remotes, all of which are positioned strategically throughout the home. “Selecting a reliable smart home control system was essential to a project of this magnitude,” van den Broek said. “None of the critical design or functionality elements would be possible without a reliable controller.”

When developing a design-centric home management system, van den Broek made lighting his number-one priority. To sufficiently marry functionality and design, van den Broek integrated Lutron Homeworks Lighting and Shades with the ELAN Entertainment and Control System so that the lighting could function automatically, or be controlled by the homeowners from anywhere in the world. 

“I used lighting as a design element in the same capacity that I use it as a functional element,” he said. “Throughout the home, the lighting evolves and changes to best enhance the art it emphasizes. Each application, depending on the exhibit it highlights or room it illuminates, is specifically catered to that space.”

To emphasize the homeowners’ art collection, lights were strategically placed underneath or above them to enhance each piece. While art-enhancing light found in traditional galleries is usually stark white, van den Broek strived to stay away from harsh hues and rely on light more conducive to a residential setting. To do so, he played with the light’s consistency and power, automating them to fade and ramp up at specific times throughout the day. By doing this, he achieved an art gallery-like atmosphere. “When the sun begins to set, the lights slowly ramp up, incrementally highlighting the art as the sunlight continues to fade,” he said. “It’s a truly stunning effect.”

One of the home’s most distinctive art pieces, the Orb—a kinetic aircraft aluminum sculpture designed by Chuck Hoberman—utilizes light as part of its playful interaction of electrical engineering and design. Positioned from the ceiling of the home’s grand salon (or living area), the Orb shifts and expands, giving the illusion that the fixture is alive and breathing. To complement the shifting nature of the piece, van den Broek installed RGD LED controllable lighting in a circular configuration around the piece. Through ELAN, the homeowners can initiate the Orb’s movement or change the color and frequency of the lighting. “The effect is quite hypnotic,” one homeowner added. “The lighting is spectacular and sets the mood of the room. With the touch of the button, I can change the lighting or the speed of the Orb’s movement from anywhere in the home.”

As avid wine connoisseurs, the homeowners asked for a functional and well-lit wine cellar that was both fully automated and discreetly located. Thus, van den Broek installed a network of security, lighting, and temperature control elements, all of which are accessible to the homeowners through the ELAN app. When the wine cellar is opened with a password, white light illuminates the wine bottles’ labels. Additionally, temperature control guarantees that the room remains between 56-59 degrees Fahrenheit; if it strays outside of that range, the homeowners will receive an email notification. “The wine cellar’s interplay of light, security, and temperature control truly represents the marriage of design and function,” van den Broek said. “This micro smart system, set within the confines of a much larger system, improves the user experience by giving very close attention to detail.” 

To tie the home’s functional lighting in with modern décor, van den Broek worked closely with interior designer Pamela Hughes of Hughes Design Associates to ensure that certain accent areas were sufficiently highlighted. According to Hughes, the interplay of lighting and design is crucial for the home’s interior décor. “Beautifully designed lighting highlights my work,” Hughes said. “You could be the best interior designer in the world, but if the lighting isn’t good, the project will fall flat. I worked closely with SmartHouse Integration to ensure that all overhead lighting served as a design element in its own right.” 

In a home of this magnitude, a modern and sophisticated security system is a must. Utilizing infrared technology, van den Broek installed a laser beam-based security system. “We made sure to equip the home with an extremely advanced security and camera system,” van den Broek added.

The homeowners also love to entertain. That’s why van den Broek designed and installed a whole home, multiroom, indoor/outdoor audio system with the audio power to potentially “blow the doors off the place.” With 18-foot ceilings in the grand salon, van den Broek chose to forgo in-ceiling speakers to avoid the risk of sounding faint. Instead, he relied on two Sunfire Atmos Subwoofers to get the job done and achieve the powerful system he was looking for. “Even without in-ceiling speakers, small and compact Sunfire Atmos subwoofers propel sound to create an impactful and entertaining audio experience,” van den Broek said. “They may be small, but they pack a lot of punch.” 

To protect the home’s extensive smart home infrastructure from power surges, van den Broek installed four Panamax M4315 Pros with BlueBOLT remote energy management as well as two Panamax MB850 and two Panamax MB1500 Uninterruptible Power Supply units. “BlueBOLT allows me to manage the home’s power as well as service the home remotely,” van den Broek added. “For example, if the cable box isn’t working, I can reboot it from anywhere in the world with the touch of a button. This product is optimal for maintaining network health.” 

Overall, the homeowners are thrilled with every element of the home’s technological design. “I have used smart home control systems before, and ELAN is by far the easiest and most reliable,” one homeowner concluded. “Between ELAN’s reliability and Mark van den Broek’s superb design skills, my home embodies the ultimate ‘wow’ factor while still maintaining a high degree of user-friendly efficiency.” 

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