Gordon van Zuiden of Daisy (formerly cyberManor) in Los Gatos, Calif. transformed an entire 1,300-square-foot bungalow into a Control4-powered smart home and listed it on Airbnb.

This home 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.

“Visitors expect a comfortable, enjoyable, and hassle-free stay,” van Zuiden said. “There’s no room for error. That’s why we put the Control4 X4 software platform in charge of nearly every aspect of the home environment. It provides a simple way, no matter the user’s comfort level with technology, to adjust the temperature, music, security settings, and more. This leaves a lasting impression, whether the visitor is coming in for a tour or staying an entire week.”

Control4 was van Zuiden’s choice to unify the diverse technologies in the home. He said, “It’s the primary automation system we support. The breadth of devices it can integrate with is unmatched.”

In this double-duty showroom and smart home rental, Control4 manages centralized lighting, audio and video, motorized shades, climate control, entry and gate access, surveillance, garage gates, outdoor heating, skylights and ceiling fans, irrigation and smart appliances.

Products from a number of ADI | Snap One and third-party brands are all able to co-exist in the home, with broad interoperability.

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. The phrase “I’m leaving” powers everything down and locks the doors. Additionally, a passive energy scene triggers when the indoor temperature hits 78°F. It opens skylights and activates a smart ceiling fan, delaying the need for AC and conserving energy stored in the home’s Sonnen battery.7

“These scenes create both a ‘wow’ factor and real energy savings,” van Zuiden said.

Ease of use is especially important in a short-term rental environment. That’s why 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, Halo Touch simplifies navigation for first-time users.

Another often overlooked yet critical component in user experience is gate and entry control. Control4 access control, installed in the past year, lets guests and employees open the gate with ease.

“We mounted it in a custom enclosure that blends beautifully with the gate,” van Zuiden said. “Technology has to be both functional and beautiful and Control4 nails both.”

The home is secured by a 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.

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, Access Networks routers and Wireless Access Points fully integrated with OvrC remote management system.

“In the end, our goal was to show that smart homes don’t have to be complicated,” van Zuiden said. “They just have to be smart.”