Smart Home Case Study: Samborondón Villa

One of the most complex and rewarding projects we recently completed was in a roughly 520 m² villa located in a premium gated community in Samborondón. The main challenge: the build was completely finished, with high-end finishes intact, and the owner wanted to integrate a complete home automation system without compromising a single element of the interior design.

This case proves that high-quality automation doesn’t require starting from scratch: with the right methodology and the right technology choices, it’s possible to transform a finished house into a truly smart home.

The Challenge: Integration in a Finished House

When a client comes to us with a finished property, the first instinct can be to think it’s “too late” for full automation. In reality, with the right systems, a finished house can be transformed without opening a single wall in most areas.

The real constraints we had on this project:

• Marble floors throughout the ground floor: no drilling possible in the floor
• Venetian stucco walls: they couldn’t be opened without ruining the finish
• Finished laminated plaster ceilings: intervention kept to a minimum
• Existing electrical installation: not designed with automation in mind
• Timeline: the client wanted the system operational in 6 weeks

The Solution: A Hybrid Architecture with No Cables in the Walls

The design of the solution was based on three principles:

1. Technical Rack in an Existing Service Room

We identified a service room adjacent to the pool machine room. There we installed the rack with:

• A central Control4 EA-5 controller
• A managed Araknis switch with 24 PoE ports
• An NVR for the security cameras
• Sonos Amp audio amplifiers (4 units)
• A UPS for continuity during power outages

The room already had conduit running to the main electrical panel, which made the necessary power taps straightforward.

2. Lutron RadioRA 3: Wireless Lighting Without Drilling Walls

The most important decision of the project was to use Lutron RadioRA 3, which operates mainly wirelessly. The Lutron dimmers were installed in the existing electrical boxes (where the conventional switches were), with no need to run additional cables in the walls.

Lutron’s Clear Connect protocol has exceptional range and virtually no interference problems, even in 3-story homes. We programmed 18 lighting zones with:

• A welcome scene (arriving home)
• A night scene (all bedrooms)
• An away scene (complete shutdown)
• Area-specific scenes (living room, dining room, kitchen, study)

3. Strategic Cabling for New Systems

Although the finished walls limited new cabling, we were able to run cables at the critical points using:

• High-quality decorative raceways in the service room and garage
• Runs through the ceilings in some areas where the finish allowed it
• Targeted penetrations in service walls (kitchen, laundry, machine room)

This allowed us to properly cable: the 8 IP security cameras, the 6 professional WiFi access points, the HD video intercom, and 4 new embedded audio zones on the terrace and pool area.

The System We Implemented

Central Control: Control4 EA-5

The brain of the system. It manages:

• The 18 Lutron lighting zones
• The 4 Sonos amplifiers
• The 8 Hikvision cameras with AI
• The DoorBird D2101V video intercom
• The Yale smart lock on the front door
• The automated vehicle gate
• The 3 main air conditioners (IR interface)
• The pool automation (Jandy)

Lighting: Lutron RadioRA 3

18 wireless lighting zones with 4-button Lutron Palladiom keypads at the main entrances. The main scenes:

“Welcome” (triggered when the front door opens):

• Entryway and hallway at 50%
• Living room at 40% in a warm tone
• Kitchen at 60%
• Air temperature set to 24°C

“Dinner” (triggered from the app or a button in the dining room):

• Dining room at 30%, very warm
• Living room at 20%
• Kitchen at 70%
• Dining room audio with the selected playlist

“Good Night” (triggered from a panel in the primary bedroom):

• Complete shutdown of the ground floor
• Hallway at 5% as a guard light
• Primary bedroom at 5%
• Security alarm armed automatically

Security: 8 Cameras + Video Intercom + Lock

• 4 exterior 4MP cameras with AI (Hikvision ColorVu)
• 4 interior cameras at entrances, living room, and pool area
• DoorBird D2101V with HD video and two-way audio
• Yale YDD424 (fingerprint + PIN + app lock)
• NVR with 30 days of retention

The owner receives notifications with a video preview when someone arrives, when the front lock is opened, and when exterior movement is detected after 10 PM.

Audio: 6 Zones with Sonos

• Social living room: 2 Triad in-ceiling + a subwoofer built into the cabinetry
• Kitchen/Dining: 2 Triad in-ceiling (a new installation with minimal ceiling intervention)
• Main terrace: 4 Episode Landscape + a buried subwoofer (new outdoor installation)
• Pool area: 2 Episode rock speakers (new)
• Primary bedroom: 2 existing Triad in-ceiling speakers
• Study: 2 Sonos Era 300 (standalone, no new cabling)

All zones managed from Control4 and from the Sonos app.

Result: What Changed for the Client

Before the project, the owner manually managed lights, AC units, the gate, and music from separate controls. Arriving home meant between 5 and 8 manual actions on the way in.

After the implementation:

Morning: The family wakes up to lights that gradually turn on, the selected music in the kitchen, and the temperature already set.

On the way out: A single “Leave” button turns off all the lights, lowers the AC units, shuts off the outdoor lights, arms the alarm, and confirms the lock is secured. All visible on one screen.

On arrival: The video intercom notifies the phone of any movement at the entrance. The door can be opened remotely or with a fingerprint. The welcome sequence activates automatically.

At night: The system monitors the cameras with AI. Any suspicious movement generates a notification with a video capture. The family sleeps knowing the house is being watched.

Daily operation time dropped noticeably. The family reported an overall feeling that “the house runs itself” — which is exactly the goal of a well-implemented home automation system.

The Main Lesson from This Project

A finished house is not an obstacle to high-quality automation. With the right methodology, the right technology choices (especially wireless Lutron RadioRA), and a technical team experienced in installations with constraints, it’s entirely possible to transform an existing residence into a first-class smart home.

What matters isn’t the cabling that already exists, but the design of the system and the integrator’s experience in making everything work perfectly.

---

Do you have a finished house in Ecuador and want to bring it up to smart home level? Get in touch for a no-commitment technical assessment in Guayaquil, Samborondón, or Quito.