Smart house model opens in Naperville – Chicago Tribune 11/20/1993

A semi-custom home that features Smart House home automation is on display at the Ashbury subdivision in west suburban Naperville.

The home is a cooperative effort of Naperville-based Oak Hill Builders Inc. and Lisle-based Molex Inc., a leading supplier of interconnection systems.

The Sharon model at Ashbury is the first Smart House to be introduced in western suburbs, according to Oak Hill owners Nick and John Stanitz.

John Stanitz said this infrastructure allows homeowners to take advantage of centralized home management, including whole-house telephone and audio/video signal distribution, energy management, lighting control and security systems. Commands are executed on-site or through remote control via wall panels, switches or telephones.

Visitors to the Smart House will be shown how the built-in “intelligence” permits the interconnection of electronic, electrical and gas home products. Molex has been a national leader in developing integrated networks for centralized home management systems.

The two-story Sharon is a modified Georgian design.

It has 4,000 square feet of living area that includes a two-story foyer with double octagon recessed ceiling, four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, formal living room, formal dining room with a custom ceiling, two-story family room with cathedral ceiling and fireplace and nine-foot ceilings throughout the first floor.

The home also has a sunroom off the kitchen and dinette, volume ceiling in the master bedroom, cathedral ceiling with skylight in the master bath, rear deck, full basement and attached three-car garage.

Oak Hill will build the Sharon model, base-priced from $280,000 plus lot, on any lot, as well as at Ashbury.

Oak Hill is one of several builders at Ashbury, which is planned for 1,100 homes.

The model is at 1119 Conan Doyle Road, one block south of 95th Street and one mile east of Illinois Highway 59