A Unique Cyber Home
Owner
James Wm White, Ph.D., P.E.
3158 W Starr Pass Blvd
Tucson, AZ 85745
Commissioned: 07-MAY-96
Completed:19-AUG-99
General Contractor
Milestone Homes
3615 N. Prince Village Place, Ste 141
Tucson, AZ 85719
Architect
CDG Architects
2102 N. Country Club Road, #9
Tucson, AZ 85716
Basics: 4050 sq ft masonry and steel construction on 3.4 acres, full ramp access, 324 cubic yard cement footer, 5" post tensioned slab, 7000 sq ft sandstone ramparts, 8000 lbs red oak, potassium water softener, dual hot water heaters, copper hot water loop, large Spa, 3 RO units, 3 HVAC systems, R factor to 91, 24' observation deck, office, workshop, 3 bedrooms, 2½ baths, 2 person master bath Jacuzzi tub, steam room, 3 car garage, terrazzo floors, upgraded appliances, private master and guest wings, 1170 sq ft patio with barbecue, icemaker, and refrigerator.
Highlights: UPS-backed automatic foyer and kitchen sliding glass doors, surge-protected VittleVeyor for service from north kitchen to South West Observation Deck via a 50' enclosed tramway, automated security doors over entertainment center and master safe, automated 4.5' wide master and guest wing security doors with scramble pad control, auto-dog door in master bedroom, automated 12" by 18" aluminum rampart panel to desert, 6 electrostatic precipitators, 3 humidifiers.
Security: Monitored alarm system, 4 keypads, 4 arming stations, 4 green party rotating attention beacons, 8 motion detectors, 4 video cameras, 2 power horns, 7 sirens, electronic guest safe, five 500 watt quartzine flood lamps, integrated Stargate and HomeSeer Systems for total home automation.
Sensors: Exterior doors, garage doors, kitchen heat, salt level, smoke sniffers, vehicle direction, water, wing doors.
Drapes: Motorized foyer, kitchen, bedroom, Great Room.
Ethernet: Configurable via 18 Cat. 5 Jacks.
InfraRed Blasters: Master bedroom and Great Room.
Microphones: 16 PZM and True Diversity lapel.
Motion: E, NE, NW, Double Garage at 300 watts.
Patch Bays: Phone, cable television, high speed internet.
Speakers: 16 individually selectable, voice or music.
Telephones: 2 lines configurable to 24 RJ11 Jacks.
Overview
In 1880, Richard Starr ran a stagecoach trail through Starr Pass in the in the Tucson Mountains giving visitors an opportunity to experience the wilds of western Tucson. More than 120 years later Signature Properties LLC developed this historic passStarr was not the only one who embraced this magnificent location. The Carnegie Foundation established the Desert Laboratory in the late 1800’s to study the ecology of the Sonoran Desert. In the mid- 1950’s, the University of Arizona continued their research and today the Desert Lab on Tumanroc Hill is the oldest continual research project in the nation. The integrity of this most important study has now been assured with the execution of the Development Agreement between Pima County and the owners of Starr Pass. By working together with the University of Arizona, neighborhood communities, and many local environmental groups, natural Wildlife Corridors now connect the Desert Laboratory to the Tucson Mountains through Starr Pass.
Starr Pass Master Plan Segment
J.W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa
View North from Coyote 9, Hole 3
The road leading north from Starr Pass Boulevard to the concrete driveway of CAIRNDHU is twenty feet wide and provides seven additional parking spaces along the west side. The crushed stone platform to the east provides yet another eight spaces. Coupled with those at the top of the hill, a total of 26 cars can be parked off street for the convenience of those attending parties and meetings.
Overlook
The Overlook Dining Area, situated 24 feet above grade at the SW corner of CAIRNDHU, can serve five. The steel cylinder in the foreground houses the service terminal of the VittleVeyor food and beverage transport system. The ramp system in the background descends at 8o to the kitchen on the ground floor.
View to the Northeast from the Overlook The aluminum roof, shown here over the circular Great Room and the south patio dining area, is of standing seam design and is maintenance free.
Near View to the Southwest from the Overlook
Far View to the Southwest from the Overlook
View of the South Patio Dining Area from the Overlook The green attention beacon on the west side of the barbecue area roof is one of four. Operable only by X-10 relays, these beacons are useful for drawing attention to CAIRNDHU prior to meetings and parties.
Exterior
Main Approach, Close View
The General Contractor retained to build CAIRNDHU in early May 1996 promised delivery by mid December 1997 but due to numerous delays caused by the unique nature of the structure changed the delivery date to mid 1998 in mid 1997, hence the MCMXCVIII (1998) engraved in stone over the main entrance. In actuality, it took the contractor three years, four months, and two weeks to the day to complete the work and deliver the keys.
The barbecue uses natural gas; the sink and stand alone ice maker use water supplied by a four stage Reverse Osmosis system; the small refrigerator holds a selection of beer and sodas during parties.
Lighted, Rotating, Green Party Beacons
As configured, the patio dining area seats twenty people. Stand alone propane fueled table top heaters (shown) provide local area heat during winter months. A commercial 2000 psi misting system provides under roof cooling in the summer.
Currently configured as a guest bedroom, the southeast room in the secondary wing can also serve as an office with a private entrance.
The bug killer, located just south of the HVAC enclosure, is hidden from view. It uses two 40 watt Flowtran Bug Bulbs and provides coverage for about an acre and a half.
View to the Southwest from the South Patio
The Tower Room, a storage area under the Overlook, provides both treated (by the KCl based water treatment system located in the furnace room off the workshop) and untreated water. Treated water supplies the patio sink and ice maker; untreated water is available for possible high volume water usage.
Interior
Near the ceiling on the left sits an UPS for the sliding glass doors (lower shelf) and power conditioning for the 240VAC VittleVeyor (upper shelf).
A pass through to the kitchen appears at the rear left.
A ten foot diameter skylight provides sufficient indirect lighting for indoor plants.
Great Room North Alcove Seating
A nine disc ultrasonic piezoelectric aerosol submicron mist generator creates the water vapor mist in the fountain.
Great Room Entertainment Center A narrow room behind the entertainment center provides easy access to rear connector panels of all equipment.
A networked PC in each guest bedroom provides ready access to the internet.
A Scramble Pad (shown to the rear left underneath the Pressure Zone Microphone) provides secure access to both master and guest wings.
The automatic dog door shown in the right rear provides keyed access to the outside ramp, water fountain, and north desert. A fenceless containment system constrains dogs to within a fairly large area of the desert.
Jacuzzi Master Bathtub for Two
Two shower stations (one shown here with a flexible focused spray hose) make this shower unusual. Note the granite bench for use when taking a steam bath.
Master Shower Doubles as Steam Room
The east and north walls of the master office are one inch thick sandstone over an Integra Block substructure. The south and west walls are solid red oak. The bottom of the window is 4.5 feet above the floor on the inside and 1.5 feet above grade on the outside.
Control Interfaces
Located just outside the laundry room, these interfaces and controls include: A Marantec Garage Door Controls B Security Keypad for Access Control C Primary Telephone Line Intercom D Security Key Switch for Access Control E Pressure Zone Microphone F Security Push Button Activation
Security System and StarGate Keypads Located inside and just North of the main entrance, the Destiny 6100AP Keypad provides access to the central security system while the StarGate Keypad provides access to the diskless, microcomputer based real-time monitoring and control system. The guest wing, laundry room, and master wing also have conveniently located Destiny keypads.
The left keypad is a Comfort Controller for Zone 1 of the Trane HVAC System located in the equipment center outside and Northwest of the garage. The right control sets Zone 1 humidity. Located in the kitchen, similar interfaces manage Zone 3 of the Trane System.
The upper console is an RS-485 based thermostat for the stand alone Great Room HVAC System. A similar thermostat manages the HVAC System for the Guest Wing. Both can be controlled from the StarGate keypads.
The Hirsch Scramble Pad provides secure access to the Guest and Master and Wings. The wing doors are failsafe and include push-to-override buttons just inside the door for use should the system be down. Located in the upper reveal just outside each wing door, is an ON/OFF rocker switch to disable the electric strike.
This Master Controller manages the foyer (Zone 1) and kitchen (Zone 3) Comfort Controllers as well as HVAC for the master wing (Zone 2).
Left of the clock, the StarGate keypad provides system access from the kitchen while right of the clock is a Pressure Zone Microphone. Pressing the lighted green button for a two-count will send the Vittleveyor from the kitchen to the overlook dining area. Pressing the yellow button will recall the VittleVeyor from the overlook to the kitchen.
Control Keypads
The toggles in all the StarGate keypads are momentary contact, double throw rockers. Pressing either the left or right side of the rocker invokes that particular Level Two Keypad. While the system caters to 96 keypads configured several levels deep, there is little justification going deeper than two levels – the Level One Master and the seven Level Two Subordinates. The 12:00 AM shown in the top row is a setup place holder for time-of-day.
The 12:00 AM shown in the top row is a setup place holder for time-of-day. ARMENABL: Press either side of the rocker to arm the security system. ACTIONS: Press left side to open Entertainment Center; press right side to set Powder Room state to OPEN/ON. CALLATTN: Press either side of the rocker to sound a “gong” thrice. CALLSERV: Press either side of the rocker to sound a “submarine dive” thrice. MAIL OK: Press either side of the rocker to clear the mail flag. WAKEUP: Press either side of the rocker to schedule a StarGate wakeup alarm at specified times on specified days.
: Indicates the corresponding function for the rockers unless stated otherwise. LANGUAGE: Demonstrates multilingual capability of StarSeer. Press the left side for a short greeting in German; press the right side for a short greeting in Brazilian Portuguese. AUDIO: Controls the stereo system. MUTE: Press either side of the rocker to mute stereo sound. CAMERAS: Controls the security camera TV monitor. VOICE|CD: Press the left rocker to use text-to-speech output to enabled speakers; press the right rocker to direct output of the Control Center CD player to enabled speakers. VIDEO: Controls the television.
: Indicates the corresponding function for the menu rockers unless stated otherwise. COFFEE: Controls the kitchen coffee maker and under sink hot water dispenser. FLAMES: Controls the gas fireplace. FOUNTAIN: Controls the central planter fountain. LASVEGAS: Controls the gaming devices at the bar. MISTER: Controls the south patio commercial misting system. SERVICE: Press the left rocker to set all systems for service access; press the right rocker to clear the service flag.
K_AUTO: Press either side of rocker to open the Kitchen Sliding Glass Door on detection of motion. K_OPEN: Press either side of the rocker to open and hold the Kitchen Sliding Glass Door. K_SECURE: Press either side of the rocker to close and lock the Kitchen Sliding Glass Door. F_AUTO: Press either side of the rocker to open the Foyer Sliding Glass Door on detection of motion. F_OPEN: Press either side of the rocker to force open and hold the Foyer Sliding Glass Door. F_SECURE: Press either side of the rocker to close and lock the Foyer Sliding Glass Door.
Level Two: DRAPES CLS designates Close; OPN designates Open. The next four rockers control the bedroom, foyer, great room and kitchen nook drapes respectively. RAMPDOOR: Use this toggle to CLS|OPN the metal door between the upper ramp and the north desert.
: Indicates the corresponding function for the menu rockers unless stated otherwise. FOYER: This rocker disables/enables the Zone1 Comfort Controller for the dining room and foyer. KITCHEN: This rocker disables/enables the Zone3 Comfort Controller for the kitchen. CNTRL: Press either side of the rocker to access the StarGate HVAC menu for the Great Room. GUEST: Press either side of the rocker to access the StarGate HVAC menu for the Guest Wing.
GRRM DIM: Press left side of rocker to shut down Great Room; press right rocker to dim selected flood lights and track lights. GRT ROOM: Press left side of rocker to shut down Great Room; press right rocker to turn on accent lights, flood lights, and track lights as well as to activate selected duplex outlets. GUEST: Press left side of rocker to shut down Guest Wing; press right rocker to turn on computers, fans, and lights. MASTER: Press left side of rocker to shut down Master Wing; press right rocker to turn on fans, lights, and selected duplex outlets. MOTION: Press either side of rocker to shut down all lights and outlets activated by motion detectors and clear all flags and timers. SHOP: Controls workshop lights, outlets, and tools.
Control Screens
Trane Zone Monitor This stand-alone utility monitors the status of the three Trane HVAC zones for the foyer, kitchen, and master wing.
Master Bath Devices The Master Bathroom uses UPB, X-10, and Z-Waves Devices.
X-10 Interface Diagnostic Aid This stand-alone diagnostic tool is useful when X-10 devices do not respond to StarSeer commands issued by HomeSeer (through a device screen) or by StarGate (through the MegaController). The label “StarSeer”, used here, designates system functions which require tightly coupled features of both HomeSeer and StarGate.
UPB Devices The stand-alone application UPStart defines and manages UPB devices and is also useful as a diagnostic tool when UPB devices do not respond to StarSeer commands issued by HomeSeer. (Note: To manage UPB devices, pause the UPB Plug-in or close HomeSeer before using UPStart.)
UPB Device Links UPB device links are useful when many different UPB devices link to a multi-function, single gang wall switch.
Z-Wave Devices Due to the structure of CAIRNDHU, multi-hop Z-Wave signals can not reach far beyond the Master Wing where the HomeSeer Z-Troller interfaces to the AUTOMATION PC.
HomeSeer Interfaces HomeSeer uses Plug-ins, many developed by Users or Vendors rather than HomeSeer staff, for configuration of Home Automation interfaces.
Bitwise BC4 IR Setup HomeSeer uses a vendor supplied plug-in for the Bitwise BC4 network-enabled enclosure. The BC4 contains a BCX1 (RS232, GPIO, Relays, IR) expansion module. The BCX1 controls all IR devices in the Control and Entertainment Centers via IR emitters hardwired to three output ports. As shown, the BCX1 caters to all devices using its own internal code tables except for two devices where key codes must be “learned”. A fourth port (not shown) drives an IR blaster.
StarGate MegaController The StarGate MegaController can control all X-10 functions and low voltage system relays as well as display individual real-time functions, system flags, relay states, and the like. Left clicking on one of the 256 defined (i.e., numbered) X-10 cells toggles the associated X-10 device ON/OFF.
Great Room HVAC In addition to the functionality provided by the keypads, the User can also control the RS-485 thermostats for the Great Room and Guest Wing via the StarGate MegaController.
StarSeer Alarm Events One of the Level 2 subordinate StarGate LCD Screens controls these StarSeer Events.
StarSeer Integrated User Access The StarSeer User can interact with both StarGate and HomeSeer using this interactive diisplay. HomeSeer and StarGate share the single RS-232 real-time port using serial splitter software.
Control Center
Security: 32 Zone Apex Destiny 6100 Hirsch Controls: Scramble Pad for Wing Security IO Xpander SG 16 DI, 8 AI and 8 Relays. StarGate (SG): Diskless, Real-Time µComputer Mics Rolls RM81 PZM Mic Controls. IR: Bitwise BC4 with an IR BCX1 Speaker Relays: X-10 Relays for 16 Speakers. UPS: APC 750XL Smart UPS
C: Cable System Patch Bay E: Viking Telephone Intercom F: CAT 5 & Phone Patch Bay G: RS-485 Hub I: SG Relay 8-Chan Xpander K: X-10 Relay Expansion Bank M: Rolls RP253 Limiter Gates N: A/V Stereo Receiver O: Distributed Sound CD Player P: X-10 Drape Relays Q: Cable Modem, Router, & WAP
System Spares, Supplies and Tools N.I.B. spares for all major electronic system components provide for long term functionality.
Spares Modules and Replacement Parts The spares inventory includes a supply of UPB, X-10, and Z-Wave replacement modules as well as sliding door parts and track lights.
Final Control Elements
Closed Desert Dog Door StarSeer uses X-10 XPFM Relay Modules in a one-of-a-kind motorized aluminum panel sub-system to manage a 12” by 18” opening in the north wall of the west bound ramp. This device, shown here with a Rotterman on the north side of the wall, is useful in dog training and in ensuring that dogs do not interfere with parties in progress.
Open Desert Dog Door The minute the door opens, the dogs go right through.
Key-Controlled Ramp Access Door Each dog wears a key to raise a locked 12” by 18” panel in the wall of the Master bedroom for a short time and thus grant access to the ramps leading to the north desert.
Close up of Ramp Access Door These keyed pet doors are commercially available in several models with different options.
Astroscopic Kitchen Sliding Glass Door The kitchen sliding glass door moves from full open (upper left) clockwise to full close (lower left) in several seconds. IR safety beams reverse door direction if an obstacle (e.g., a dog) moves through the opening during a closing cycle.
VittleVeyor V.I.P. Dining Station The VittleVeyor (shown here at the V.I.P. Station) moves food and beverage from the kitchen station some thirty feet to the northeast and eighteen feet below this dining overlook which is some twenty-four feet above grade.
VittleVeyor Kitchen Station (w/o Service Basket)
VittleVeyor Kitchen Station (with Service Basket)
Master Wing Closed
Master Wing Open The oak wing doors were manufactured by gluing eight 1/8th inch thick red oak panels together, under vacuum, on a form whose radius of curvature was the same as that of the Great Room.
Guest Wing Closed
Guest Wing Open
Guest Wing Door Actuator This view of the guest wing door actuator shows the internal X-10 filter needed for all inductive loads (e.g., motors and transformers).
Powder Room Door Closed
Powder Room Door Open
Entertainment Center Doors Closed In reality, this “wall” is two panels, manufactured just like the wing doors but on a different frame, weighing 220 lbs each. Here, it is difficult to discern the panels from the rest of the oak panel wall. X-10 relays control a synchronized pair of linear Somfy motors operated by X-10 relays to open or close this wall segment.
Entertainment Doors Opening
Local Transport
The Marriott offers shuttle service between the Starr Pass Country Club, the Resort, and off site parking.
A golf cart is a great way to get around Starr Pass even if golf itself is of little or no interest.
Mouse-Over photo
for information
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