Chelsea CafieroWhere better for a former NFL player to retire than a 17,000 sq-f home with a basement bar, home theatre and full-blown gymnasium? While this retired athlete wanted to remain anonymous, he wasn’t shy about showing off his new luxurious family home’s many impressive features.
Before the house was even built, this homeowner knew he wanted whole-house automation first and foremost. He hired integration firm Millennium Sounds to create an extensive pre-game strategy so every room in the house could be controlled with one single automation system.
The integrator teamed up with the builders and interior designers to work on room by room blueprints. Together, the team decided on Control4 for the automation.
Today, the house is a technology and sports lover’s dream. Control and automation span every room. In total the system controls 20 televisions, several video sources and audio zones, multiple touchscreens throughout the home and security cameras surrounding the house.
The Man Cave
As you could have guessed, this former NFL player chose to turn the basement into the ultimate man cave. There’s a bar, home theatre, workout room, trophy room…oh, and a casino.
“It’s fully automated,” says the homeowner. “We put on a lot of different kinds of viewing events: Super Bowl, fight parties, whatever it is. I hit the ‘All On’ button and all the TVs come on. I hit the ‘Party’ button; it sets up the back of the room and the music will be playing, and then we’re all set to go.”
The workout room is huge. The owner can work out and watch ESPN and listen to music all at the same time. Millennium Sounds also installed a golf simulator, which is also hooked up to the Control4 system. The simulator screen can be used to call up television programs or even play video games.
The Gymnasium
The full-blown gymnasium is “one of the coolest rooms in this project,” says Bill Lehman, the Control4 installer at Millennium Sounds who worked on the installation. The gymnasium is glass-enclosed and includes a basketball court, wood floors and multimedia on every wall.
“A lot of my friends come over, we’re competitive and we play basketball,” says the homeowner, who agrees it’s one of the coolest rooms in the house.
Millennium Sounds even added a custom feature to the system. When you press the ‘BBALL’ button, Michael Jordan’s voice blasts over the court saying, “You want a piece of me? C’mon!”
Simultaneously, a Jay-Z track comes on as the TVs and all the lights come to life.
It’s a moment “straight out of the beginning of a pro sports game,” says Control4, making this retired athlete feel right at home.
This article first appeared on CE Pro.