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"Higest-Tec Homes"? Are they kidding? Multimillion homes surely find it easy to incorporate all/any technology at any cost. How about a listing of moderately priced - effecient homes that are designed with architecture/technology in mind!
Highest-tech homes for sale
By Christopher Solomon of MSN Real Estate
Did you ever watch "The Jetsons" television show as a kid and envy their maid, Rosie the robot, or the family's treadmill in outer space where the family walked Astro the dog?
That show, of course, was a cartoon. But these days, this gee-whiz stuff no longer seems so far-fetched. Today, some of the nicest homes have futuristic amenities that would make even George Jetson say, "Hooba-dooba-dooba!": Picture high-tech security. Robotics. Automation — you name it. Frequently, you can control it all with your phone while you're lying on a black-sand beach in the islands.
Don't believe us? Set aside that Buck Rogers ray gun and check out some of these real tech-stuffed homes for sale around the nation.
NOTE: All descriptive information is courtesy of listing agents. Properties were on the market and listed as available at the time of publication in September 2012, unless noted.
Highest-tech homes for sale
Kihei, Hawaii
Gadgets: A butler at your fingertips
Size: 4,800 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
Price: $5.498 million
Built in 2005, this fully automated home on Maui is controlled with an AMX system that you can operate via iPad. Watching a movie in the media room but need to run upstairs? Shut it all down — lights, sounds, projector — from your master bedroom with a swipe of your finger. You can control everything from solar shades to music, as well.
Three Internet-controlled video cameras also let you see who's at your entry gate, peruse the bottles in your wine room or check out the ocean conditions at Molokini.
Highest-tech homes for sale
Evergreen, Colo.
Gadgets: Stuffed with security
Size: 12,000 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms
Price: $18 million
Worried about intruders? Maybe you should invest in this 32-acre estate, which sits in a mountain valley west of Denver. The 12,000-square-foot home, with a separate guest house and equestrian facilities, comes with a $6 million surveillance and security system that would make the CIA proud: Night-vision cameras monitor the interior and exterior and can be watched from a laptop, phone or tablet with Apple software anywhere in the world. Thermal-imaging cameras working in conjunction with special software can track even a handprint on a wall up to 20 minutes after it was left. A detection system can issue an alert for water leaks at every sink and toilet, as well as any sudden 10-degree rise in temperature. The owner can change codes and access permissions instantly from anywhere. That should make nearly anyone feel safe.
Find more Evergreen homes for sale on Realtor.com.
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Highest-tech homes for sale
Austin, Texas
Gadgets: It will even check the weather for you
Size: 6,118 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms
Price: $5.25 million
Looking for futuristic amenities in a high-design package in a hip town? This home has nearly all of 'em.
The home's Savant system is commander-in-chief at the touch of your finger to iPad or phone. It can control and monitor a nine-camera surveillance system, a gate intercom and control, drapes and shades, lights, pool functions and even the home's WeatherHawk weather station.
Not enough toys for you? The stylish pad also has a SunBrite outdoor TV and a fancy indoor home theater.
Find more Austin homes for sale on Realtor.com.
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Highest-tech homes for sale
Cape Coral, Fla.
Gadgets: A pool man who plays Beethoven
Size: 5,970 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms
Price: $2.395 million
Even before you throw the power switch, there's a lot to recommend this home: The Mediterranean-style abode has 135 feet of deep-water frontage with quick access to the Gulf of Mexico. Inside is a game room with a bar and a home theater that seats 12.
But we like its "smart home" chops: From your phone, tablet or computer, you can steer the home's high-definition, infrared camera system to scout for intruders, turn on the pool's circulation system, play Beethoven on the whole-house audio system, dim the lights and switch off the air conditioner. You can even set the home's alarm — all while you're 1,000 miles away.
Highest-tech homes for sale
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Gadgets: Cameras at your fingertips
Size: 10,800 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms
Price: $10.5 million
This big home in the Upper Canyon above Phoenix appeared on "Celebrity House Hunting" with Bret Michaels. Maybe you're a power forward for the Phoenix Suns who's looking for privacy?
This estate, in a gated community, has a control panel that lets you to see all of the home's security cameras at once. Touch features and enlarge images separately to get a better look at what's going on in every corner of the property. No more paparazzi surprising you at the windows.
The gadgetry does all the ho-hum stuff, too: Walk in the door and turn on all the home's lighting, turn down the air conditioner, switch on a movie in the home theater, ignite the gas fireplaces and even heat up the pool and spa for a pre-sleep dip — all from one control panel.
Highest-tech homes for sale
Lake Geneva, Wis.
Gadgets: Dress your windows, all 164 of them
Size: 9,300 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms
Price: $4.999 million
There's a lot to say about Whispering Oaks Lodge, on Lake Geneva in southern Wisconsin. What caught our eye, however, were the big views of the lake — or, more precisely, from the 164 automated windows and drapes.
Touch a button to open or close all of the windows at once, or open them individually. Forget to close a window when you leave? Fear not: These windows sense the rain and shut themselves in a downpour.
Built of 18-inch-diameter Canadian logs, the home has 126 feet of lakefront; two 34-foot, canopied slips; and even a pool.
Find more Lake Geneva homes for sale on Realtor.com.
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Highest-tech homes for sale
Naples, Fla.
Gadgets: Hurricane-shutdown mode
Size: 4,885 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms
Price: $4.25 million
This home, custom-built in 2011, lets you run the whole house using a Savant control system. Use the built-in wall iPads, or roam the world with one, and monitor the security cameras for burglars. They also let you tweak the digital thermostats, control the security system and turn on music and lights.
This south Florida home also has some region-specific gadgets: Motorized screens and shutters protect the outdoor living area. And a "smart" standby power generator can power all seven home systems in an emergency such as a hurricane — and it automatically shuts them off in order of importance to prevent overload.
Find more Naples homes for sale on Realtor.com.
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Highest-tech homes for sale
Chino Hills, Calif.
Gadgets: A home theater worthy of "La La Land"
Size: 9,492 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms
Price: $4.988 million
Need a good place to watch a movie in the Los Angeles area? The original owner of this Tuscan-style estate spared no expense — $675,000 — building a high-tech theater, powered by a high-end JBL Synthesis system. Movie-watchers munch their popcorn from auto-reclining leather seats. Overhead is a "shooting star" ceiling with winking LED lights.
Not enough gadgetry? The home's automation system lets you control the lights, heating, TVs — you name it — from your cellphone or tablet. Oh, and the home also has a ballroom and a great room that's a replica of a space in the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Highest-tech homes for sale
Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Gadgets: Imagine an army of smart elves
Size: 8,500 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms
Price: $5.995 million
This home may be smarter than you are. The 8,500-square-foot home, built in 2002 in Westlake Village's Lake Sherwood area, is so intelligent that it can tell you when there's mail in the mailbox. It also knows when to turn on the sprinklers — automatically, natch — by measuring soil moisture.
The Crestron system is also a butler at your fingertips. It can operate the pool, turn on the three gas fireplaces and help you select the music while you're chopping vegetables.
Not cool enough for you? How about this: Sensors under the master-bedroom carpet mean that when you get up in the middle of the night, the bathroom light goes on. The TVs also are wired into the home's security system and cameras.
Highest-tech homes for sale
St. Charles, Ill.
Gadgets: 'Romance' lighting and 87 security zones
Size: 17,000 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms
Price: $7.9 million
Woodgate Estate is unreal. Set on 26 acres, five of which are a Japanese garden, about 40 miles west of Chicago, the home is a lot to manage. It has three media rooms, more than 150 light switches, 87 security zones, indoor and outdoor pools, four garage doors, 14 stereo zones, 22 radiant-heat-floor zones, multiple waterfalls and more.
How can a homeowner control all of that without going nuts? A local company, MediaTech, simplified the commands and put them all at the owner's fingertips. There are touch panels on the walls and portable, Wi-Fi-enabled controls. For instance, hit the "romance" button, and lights throughout the home dim to a nice moodiness.
Find more St. Charles homes for sale on Realtor.com.
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Highest-tech homes for sale
Greenwich, Conn.
Gadgets: Long-distance control
Size: 10,000 square feet, 8 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms
Price: $5.595 million
Beauty and brains — now that's a house. At this stone-and-clapboard country home, we were drawn to the state-of-the-art Crestron control system.
Say you're on an Antarctic cruise and want to tweak what's happening at home. Pull out that tablet and open the front gate to let in the gardener, turn on the lights at night or switch off the heat to save money.
Built in 2005 in this famed New York City suburb, the house sits on four open acres that are next to Greenwich Land Trust land. In addition to its smarts, the home's nice touches include a dining room with hand-painted murals and a stately fireplace.
Find more Greenwich homes for sale on Realtor.com.
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