The Real Estate Trading Game

Local interior designers and DIY home-improvement devotees can deftly turn a Victorian into a minimalist masterpiece, but the wires, devices, receptors, and keys required for plugged-in life often threaten to junk up the white-on-white backdrop. Enter Guatemalan-born Alfredo Zaparolli and his SoMa-based firm, Techlinea. While Techlinea is known for dramatic security work (clients include Latin American banks and Congrega­tion Beth Sholom, in the Outer Richmond, whose setup required approval from the Jewish Defense League), it also creates systems for lighting, temperature, and audiovisual components of the modern household—most of which can be controlled with a $500 iPad or $300 iPhone. During its 25 years in business, Techlinea has gained renown in the industry, and Zaparolli, a lighting designer by training, is a sought-after speaker. Not surprisingly, he has a lot to say about the connected house of the 21st century and what you can do to bring your digs up to speed without adding extra clutter. Techlinea: 415-836-9140, techlinea.com You still need wires to get good video signals for high-definition TV. What’s become wireless is telecommuni­cations; the Internet, obviously; and lighting controls. You still have wires from the switches to the light, but now they communicate to a command station or keypad. So the basic infrastructure is still wired, but the communication portion has gone wireless.

Twenty years ago, the “wired house” was the apex of technology. Has it now become the unwired house?

How has the idea of the fantasy house changed? The fantasy talk used to be about having the ability to control your hot tub or spa from a remote location, but I would never do that. If I run water, I want to be
in the house so I can turn it off.

Tell me about another cool, futuristic trend. I’ve seen some components in which a glass window becomes your video screen.

And the most exciting lighting innovation? Low-voltage LED strips. They’re about as wide as a piece of tape and can be placed on cornices, on crown molding, or under cabinets. They provide light that’s the equivalent of a fluorescent, but they don’t get hot like halogens.

In the house of the future, will we be using keys? We’ll be using locks with codes that can be programmed to work on a certain day at a certain time. So you can give different codes to housekeeping and the babysitter. You can also update privileges remotely if dates and times change.

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