The short version
A Birmingham family built new and wanted the house to work as one system rather than as eight apps.
The Sound Vision came in during framing alongside Bingham Development and Oliver Max Design, and wired for Control4 across lighting, climate, locks, Luma surveillance, whole home audio, video distribution and a full outdoor kitchen and lanai.
Speakers are painted to the ceiling and the technology is invisible, which was the entire point. Call 248-804-8011.
At a Glance
Town
Birmingham, MI
Project Type
New construction, whole home integration
Timeline
Coordinated across the full build
Systems
Control4 automation, whole home audio and video, lighting, networking, Luma surveillance, outdoor AV
What the Family Wanted
They were building the house they intended to stay in. The brief was not a feature list, it was a way of living: somewhere to have people over, somewhere the kids would end up, and a house that handled the boring parts on its own.
What they did not want was the thing most new builds end up with, which is a smart lock from one company, a thermostat from another, cameras on a third app and a speaker in the kitchen that nobody can pair. One system, one interface, or it is not worth doing.
The Challenge: Everyone Is on Site at Once
New construction looks like the easy version of this work and it is not. It is the version with the most coordination. Low voltage has to be in the walls before insulation, keypad locations have to be settled before the electrician sets boxes, speaker positions have to be agreed with the designer before the ceiling is closed, and every one of those decisions is made by a different trade on a different schedule.
Get it wrong and the fix is drywall repair. So the real work happened in the framing stage, sitting down with Bingham Development and Oliver Max Design and settling where everything lands before anything was buried.
The Build: One System, Nothing Visible
Control4 is the spine. Lighting, climate, door locks, cameras, audio and video all report to the same app and the same keypads, so there is one place to look and one thing to learn.
Audio runs through the house and out to the lanai, with in ceiling speakers whose grilles were painted to match the ceiling so they disappear from anywhere but directly underneath. Video is distributed rather than per room, which means sources live in the rack instead of in cabinets. The main level uses Frame TVs where a black rectangle would have hurt the room.
The lower level was designed as the place people actually gather: a bar, a euchre table and a family room with a display sized for the seating rather than the wall. Outside, an outdoor kitchen and lanai got a Sunbrite display and dual zone audio, so the patio and the seating area can run independently or together.
Security is a Luma camera system with AI detection, integrated into the same Control4 interface rather than a separate app, and the network was built for the whole footprint up front rather than extended later.
The Result: A House That Does Not Ask for Attention
Nothing about the finished house announces that it is a smart home. There are no visible speakers, no plastic keypad walls, no rack in a closet with a fan you can hear.
What there is instead is a house where the lights come up in the morning, the doors lock at night, music follows you outside, and the family never has to think about which app does what. Technology supports the life they are building. It does not compete with it.
What would a system like this cost in your build?
The calculator walks through home size, how many rooms you want covered and which systems you actually care about, and gives you a real range in about two minutes.
Open the Home Technology Budget Calculator Looking at something different? Try the Home Theater Budget Tool.System Overview
| Room or Element | What Is In It | Brands |
|---|---|---|
| Whole home control | Lighting, climate, locks, audio, video and cameras on one interface | Control4 |
| Whole home audio | In ceiling speakers with painted grilles, multiple zones | Architectural in ceiling |
| Video distribution | Sources centralized in the rack, distributed to displays | Frame TV, distributed video |
| Lower level | Bar, euchre table and family room with a display sized to the seating | Control4 |
| Outdoor | Outdoor kitchen and lanai with weatherproof display and dual zone audio | Sunbrite |
| Security | AI camera surveillance integrated into the control interface | Luma |
| Networking | Whole footprint coverage designed before drywall | Enterprise grade |
| Lighting | Wireless lighting control with scenes | Control4 |
Project Details
The Project
- Location: Birmingham, Michigan
- Project: ground up new construction
- Integration started in the framing stage
- Indoor and outdoor coverage including kitchen and lanai
- Coordinated with builder, designer and electrical throughout
The Team
- System integration: The Sound Vision
- Builder: Bingham Development LLC
- Interior design: Oliver Max Design
Equipment Specified
- Control4 whole home automation
- Wireless lighting control and scenes
- Smart thermostat and door lock integration
- Luma AI camera surveillance
- Whole home audio, indoor and outdoor zones
- Whole home video distribution
- Frame TVs in living spaces
- In ceiling speakers with custom painted grilles
- Sunbrite outdoor display at the lanai
- Enterprise grade wireless networking
The House
Frequently Asked Questions
What does whole home automation cost in Birmingham?
For a new build the ranges we quote most often are $10,000 to $15,000 for lighting and audio in the main living spaces, $25,000 to $50,000 for a genuinely connected home covering lighting, audio, video and networking, $50,000 to $120,000 for a full integration like this one with surveillance, outdoor entertainment and distributed video, and $120,000 and up for estate scale. Home size matters less than how many rooms you actually want covered. The budget calculator will put a range on your specific build.
When should an integrator get involved in new construction?
At framing, before insulation and drywall. Every meaningful decision in this trade is a wire location, and wire is cheap while the walls are open and expensive afterward. Waiting until the house is finished does not save money, it converts a wiring budget into a wireless workaround budget and a drywall repair bill. It also forces speaker and keypad positions to be chosen from what is possible rather than what is right.
Can smart home speakers be hidden completely?
Yes. In ceiling and in wall architectural speakers sit flush and their grilles can be painted to match the surrounding finish, which makes them effectively invisible from anywhere but directly underneath. On this project the ceiling grilles were painted to the ceiling color during finishing. For rooms where even that is too much, speakers can be placed behind acoustically transparent fabric or built into millwork.
Is Control4 or Crestron better for a new home?
Both are excellent and we are certified on both, so the honest answer is that it depends on the house and the household rather than the logo. Control4 tends to be the better fit for families who want a clean app and straightforward daily use across a normal sized home. Crestron tends to win on very large homes, heavy lighting loads and highly custom programming. What matters far more than the choice is that one platform runs everything, rather than four platforms each running a piece.
Do outdoor televisions actually survive Michigan winters?
A real outdoor display does. Sunbrite units are rated for roughly minus 24 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit and are sealed against rain and insects, and they are built for direct sun, which is what actually kills a normal TV outside. An indoor TV under a covered patio will typically fail within a season or two from condensation. The display on this lanai is rated for the weather it lives in.
Building or renovating in Birmingham?
The cheapest hour on any project is the one spent in the framing stage. Get us in before the drywall and the rest gets easy.
Talk to a person
248-804-8011
Monday to Friday, 9 to 6. You reach the people who design and install the work, not a call center.
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