Touring the HGTV/ADT Smart Home

I admit it: every year, I enter to win the HGTV Dream Home. They’re always located in an interesting place, executed with thoughtful & locally-inspired design, and full of unique details. This year, there's also a Smart Home!

A few weeks ago, I was really excited to be invited to a dinner hosted by ADT – a  company that you probably immediately associate with security systems – but which actually creates smart homes as well. The purpose of the dinner, which took place in a lovely restaurant called L’Apicio in the East Village, was to introduce the 2013 HGTV Smart Home to us – which also happens to be located in Jacksonville Beach, FL - my hometown.

The peeps from ADT could not have been more gracious, and filled us in on all of the ins and outs of what exactly puts the ‘Smart’ in ‘Smart Home’. The ways in which the home can be controlled remotely are pretty remarkable - I definitely felt a little bit like I'd stepped into The Jetsons. One potential conflict preventer: a toilet seat that automatically goes down when you leave the bathroom.

In a lucky coincidence, I was actually headed back to Jacksonville for 10 days on the day following the dinner, so the ADT team set me up with tickets to see the Smart Home in person! I took along my mom – she's a self-described HGTV nut, so this was certainly an afternoon up her alley.

I took plenty of photos, although the quality isn't the best because they're from my iPhone.

Just after entering, this pretty alcove was located to the right, just outside the master bedroom.

The anchor in the center was made of layered starfish and looked fantastic in a floating frame; the square pattern was constructed of painted wooden planks.

The “garage” was ridiculously beautiful – I’d hate to actually park a car in it. I first noticed its elevated ceiling outfitted with a giant skylight through which sunlight streamed in freely. The walls were planked in cedar, and these beautiful banners, which once hung from beach lampposts, were displayed in floating frames.

There were a few surfboards mounted to the walls, but the coolest feature by far was the pulley system by which several more boards were suspended from the rafters. 

Here's the laundry room - suffice it to say I'd have a much easier time getting to laundry if I did it in a space like this:

Retro photos from the Beaches Museum lined the hallway to the kitchen, dining & living room.

The outdoor space was pretty amazing, and came with a solid outdoor kitchen. Not pictured: the giant temperature-controlled pool.

Below, a room for two kids:

In the kids' bathroom, a framed antique lifeguard uniform was super cool:

I took zillions more photos, but those were some of my favorites.

Being very optimistic and extremely unrealistic, my mom and I have already discussed what we'd do if we won the grand prize (incidentally, you also get $100,000 cash and a car). 

You can still enter here and here once a day through May 31st.

Good luck!