The High Tech Home
Visitors are greeted by a full wall mural of Tretchikoff’s Lady of the Orient in the entrance hall.
Alexa, Savannah sunset,” says Kim Rutter as we stand in the informal lounge area of the Merivale home she shares with David Roche. A slow, warm orange light creeps across the room – it does indeed feel like you might imagine a Savannah sunset.
Words: Pattie Mason Images: Carmen Peter Photography
“Alexa, Arctic Aurora,” says Kim. And the room is turned a cool, pale blue and the transformation is gradual and soothing. It’s all rather lovely. These are the Hue lightbulbs at work explains David, all voice-controlled via the ubiquitous Alexa.
The House
The house itself is a rebuild of the couple’s 1957 home. The original was destroyed in the quakes but they loved it so much that rather than opt for a new build they recreated it with its high ceilings, unusual angles and external beams.
Outside visitors are greeted by grey concrete block walls, grey pebbles and minimalist architectural planting. The gadgets start at the door, press the glowing blue button and the Ring video doorbell alerts David on his smartphone and he can see and speak to any visitors from wherever he may be.
On this occasion he happens to be in the house, which is handy, as he opens the front door.
The Interior
Inside it’s a stark contrast with the grey of the driveway. A mural depicting Russian artist Vladimir Tretchikoff’s iconic painting ‘Lady Of The Orient’ covers the wall in the entrance. Floor to ceiling wrought iron gates lead to the lounge where there’s a sunburst mirror on blue wallpaper; an orange Eames style lounge chair; a blue and gold floor lamp.
The kitchen and dining area is sleek glossy white with splashes of purple in the bar stools and cabinetry and fridge. The technology The technology feels like a good fit in this home with its strong streak of quirky and futuristic vibe. “I’m definitely a gadget person,” says David. He’s not kidding – the coffee machine is on a timer; Alexa reads his morning news to him (via an Echo – that’s the hardware, Alexa is the executive assistant trapped in the little black speaker); the purple fridge allows them to add items to a digital shopping list that syncs with their phones. He even waters the outdoor plants via an app on his phone.
Kim is an equally enthusiastic user of all these apps, she reads all her books on a Kindle and deftly navigates around the home entertainment system via Alexa. But she also brings a more stylish perspective. “I don’t care how good they are if they’re ugly,” she says of the various gadgets.
The majority of the technology here is controlled through one smart home system and an i-pad and many of the gadgets have been added on. And whilst David does have a sort of ‘control centre’ cabinet in his home office, it debunks the idea that to have a high-tech home you need to start at the new build phase. “The audio visual stuff is hard-wired,” explains David, “But most of the stuff we have here is modular and we’ve added to it as we go along.”
What are the challenges?
It seems to run so smoothly. But it’s not always like this says Kim candidly. There are frustrating moments when it all goes wrong. And you do have to be careful sometimes not to call Alexa by name if you don’t want her to do something, they use ‘her’ instead on these occasions.
And what about power cuts? “Well, honestly, we rarely have power cuts here,” says David. “And if we do, it just means a reboot of things around the house. And we do have a guy who comes now and again and helps us with digital housekeeping once or twice a year.” When you look at home technology the possibilities really do seem endless. And in this home they’ve utterly embraced them. It’s very appealing.