Ah, a respite from flat-screen TV's!
The reason it was supposed to go up earlier is that this coming weekend is the last time the Sunset Technology House will be open to the public, so if you want to visit it after you see the pics, start reshuffling your weekend plans!
The house is a joint project of Sunset and Popular Science, and not surprisingly, the divergent cultures of these two magazine-reading populations don't quite come together. The house actually feels fairly un-techy, and all the many gadgets that don't fit naturally in a grand residence (like a 3-D printer), but that the magazines' advertisers probably still wanted on display are exiled to a "Tech Loft," which is the space above the garage.
Still, the fact that the advanced technological features of the house don't dominate your experience as you tour it is a good thing. You're free to enjoy it aesthetically.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I'm usually hot and cold on Sunset's houses, there's one in my parents' neighborhood and we went and looked in the windows. They always seem a little bit over the top and ridiculous to me (see snarky slideshow commentary e.g. "Adults also need to spy on their vineyards", love that). But there are simply a bunch of things I covet in this house. Light fixtures, pillows, bedding, rugs, I want to know who decorated it and where they got everything, not about all the techy crap (seriously, the stove faucet? that's asking for trouble). And I like the use of the glass tile in the bathroom floors.
And we're getting very close to the 25th anniversary of the first shelter magazine article devoted to "smart houses" (computer controlled) and touting an example as the house of the immediate future. (Yes, Ray Bradbury had one in fiction long before the technology became remotely feasible in real.)
It's the weirdest phenomenon -- builders and buyers will happily adopt all sorts of aesthetic features, but there is huge resistance to widespread implementation of those programs where you control your oven remotely or your refrigerator states its opinions on your diet.
where is this house?
how can i visit it?