A remote stone farmhouse in the north of England has been given a hi-tech makeover by home automation installer Morban. The heart of the installation – which embraced entry control, CCTV and AV entertainment – was a Cytech Europe Comfort intelligent home system.
The farmhouse, built in 1870, was modernised and extended by owner, property developer who lives there with his wife and two young children. It was therefore important that the system was sufficiently simple that all family members could operate it.
In fact, the in-wall controls fitted in the children’s zones have restricted access to make sure the security system doesn’t literally become ‘child’s play’. Elsewhere in the house, a mixture of handheld and in-wall control panels provide full system access.
“It’s really great,” said the homeowner regarding the finished installation. “You can control the gates, view all the CCTV cameras, distribute video and TV throughout the house to the 12 flat-screen TVs and much more.”
The Comfort Intelligent Home System interfaces with control technology for the two gates, three garages in their own block, Systemline audio control, three touch control panels and the Velux windows throughout the house.
In addition to the 12 TVs, Morban installed an HD video distribution system and an AV server storing music and films. The distribution system also allows the CCTV cameras to be viewed from screens anywhere in the house and also over the internet.
“We worked on this project over quite a long period – about five months – while the house was being restored,” recalled Geoff Banks, a director at Morban.
“The key factor was a need for high security in this very rural and iconic location. The owner also needed easy to use remote access to all the home controls – and no visible wires.”
