Bigwood on the Rocks
The Family Gathering Pad
by Cassidy Mantor
Jess Goitiandia knows how to make a house fun. He’s an integrator who likes robotics and good music and is a forward-thinker whose home automation systems make people’s lives better. Jess has an applied science degree in robotics and he studied pneumatics and hydraulics at the circuit level. The founder of Audio Innovations was attracted to robotics because of the consistency with which systems perform and how an experience could be engineered to achieve seemingly any goal a person could dream up.
Jess has a tangible excitement for the art of the possible in a smart home…“Let’s make it work,” he says. “Let’s do something cool.”
Jess considered working for Disney in animatronics but ultimately chose to move back home to Idaho with his wife. He opened his own company in Hailey and began component-level repair of high-fidelity equipment. The business quickly morphed into complete automation when customers recognized that if he could fix their TVs he could fix their homes.
Founded in 1992, Audio Innovations creates custom control systems for audio, lighting, shades, security, snowmelt, pools, spas, firepits, gates, one-of-a-kind architectural features like stargazing decks and 10-car glass-door garages as well as unique items such as automated geothermal heating. Jess works with early adopters who want to automate their entire homes, and he also works with people who are a bit more reluctant to add systems into their homes.
In the 30 years that he’s been in business, Jess has observed that often those who are on the hesitant end of the spectrum have had bad experiences in the past with clunky programming. Jess has a tangible excitement for the art of the possible in a smart home and his superior technical knowledge makes him the perfect guide to step into home automation. “Let’s make it work,” he says. “Let’s do something cool.” Bigwood on the Rocks is something cool.
“We’ve created the ability for clients to troubleshoot themselves without having to come on site if there’s an issue. Worst case, they call me, but 90% of our service calls have been eliminated because of the software we developed.”
–Jess Goitiandia, Audio Innovations
Automation for the Tech Skeptic
Bigwood is a large home in Ketchum that was built for fun. The owners envisioned that the home would become a place where their extended families would spend quality time together. The original property had an existing three-bedroom house on it that was substantial in size. When they remodeled, they lifted the garage, built a floor above it, and installed a stage in the front yard.
They doubled the square footage and expanded the house to have six bedrooms with a gym, media room, pool table, a two-lane bowling alley, a golf simulator, an exterior putting green, a backyard entertaining area that included a firepit and outdoor kitchen with immersion audio and video, and an infinity pool and spa.
Music was the driving force behind the program for this home. Audio Innovations installed speakers in almost every room and over 60 speakers and 10 subwoofers outside alone. They also incorporated wine temperature and humidity control. Jess shares that he’d done a system for the previous owner that was only one stage. The new owners amplified the system in every sense of the word. They linked up motorized shades, connected all interior and exterior lighting, cameras and security, all audio and video, and interfaced with the gate and entry door locks.
Much of the system is hidden behind the scenes, but the house is extremely technical. The owners or property manager can control lighting, shades, gate access, and the garage door all from their cell phones in one app. “We’ve created the ability for clients to troubleshoot themselves without having to come on site if there’s an issue,” Jess explains. “Worst case, they call me, but 90% of our service calls have been eliminated because of the software we developed.”
The system is a dream for an owner who is not on site year-round. If there’s a water pipe that bursts, the homeowner will get an email or text alert, depending on what line of communication they set in their preferences. Bigwood sends its alerts to its property manager. Jess reflects that while initially there may have been some apprehension with relying so heavily on technology to control the house, “What we achieved is very doable with the right integration.” He adds, “Your imagination is your only limitation. We can do anything you think of. We’ve done crazy stuff on the backside with programming.”
The Bigwood homeowners might not have gone down the full smart home path if Audio Innovations’ system wasn’t already well-functioning in the original house. They started by saying, “Our kids can control the house but we can’t.” Yet they found a certain comfort in that integration and expanded upon it in a way that worked for them. By the end of the project, they had created a custom experience that integrated lighting, motorized shades, house-wide audio/video, a custom 8K theater, HVAC, cameras, and a full security and snowmelt system into their automation.
“In the bowling alley, they have the ability to choose any color for their custom lit Bigwood on the Rocks sign, with either RGBW lighting or black lighting coming from the coffers above the alleys, and RGBW lighting on the sides of the alley,”
–Jess Goitiandia, Audio Innovations
“In the bowling alley, they have the ability to choose any color for their custom lit Bigwood on the Rocks sign, with either RGBW lighting or black lighting coming from the coffers above the alleys, and RGBW lighting on the sides of the alley,” Jess says. Additionally, the white onyx bar tops in the lounge are perfectly lit and enhance the mood.
The golf simulator is another fun area where entertainment was integrated into the home. Jess says, “The simulator screen can be shared to the 85” TV that is visible from the bar to razz your buddy golfing or to the bowling alley seating area with music thumping. The home is quite an experience when animated with family and friends.” That totality of experience is the goal Audio Innovations seeks to achieve for all of their clients.
“Crestron is the platform we use to share sources from room to room, so we can link up the same 15 TVs to three cable boxes in the head end and label them ‘Mom,’ ‘Dad,’ or ‘Kids’ for added convenience.”
–Jess Goitiandia, Audio Innovations
The Storage Closet: An Approachable Master Control Room
““Imagine an octopus,” Jess explains. “The body of the octopus is in the storage closet, and every tentacle goes out to a TV, a shade, a generator, a geothermal well. The list goes on with what we do in the automation side, and that hardwiring infrastructure meets in the head end.” Also called the rack room, these rooms are sophisticated wiring masterpieces that make a smart home function on the back end.
“Imagine an octopus. The body of the octopus is in the storage closet, and every tentacle goes out to a TV, a shade, a generator, a geothermal well. The list goes on with what we do in the automation side, and that hardwiring infrastructure meets in the head end.”
–Jess Goitiandia, Audio Innovations
“Bigwood’s rack room has twice the amount of wiring as do some commercial AV departments. While some clients prefer to only automate lights, shades, stereos, and TVs, Audio Innovations takes it to the next level. The head end shares equipment through the entire house. “If there are 15 TVs in the house, that could mean 15 cable boxes or 15 AppleTVs with 50 apps – a maintenance nightmare,” Jess says. “Crestron is the platform we use to share sources from room to room, so we can link up the same 15 TVs to three cable boxes in the head end and label them ‘Mom,’ ‘Dad,’ or ‘Kids’ for added convenience.”
“The head end also means that there is one place to keep track of the camera system, wifi, security, lighting, and shades. The typical 3,500-square-foot house might have one processor, but Audio Innovations’ homes routinely have four or five. Jess explains that intuitive or complex systems require sophisticated programming on the back end to make the user experience easy and intuitive in operation because one size doesn’t fit all. “We haven’t found a drag and drop programming platform that can do what we do in control or experience,” Jess says. “Even Crestron – one of our favorite platforms – that has a version called Crestron Home to compete in the drag and drop world still leaves something to be desired.”
“Audio Innovations is a tech ambassador that introduces homeowners to a new level of luxury. Even if a previous experience with a smart home was miserable, it’s hard not to see the argument for certain levels of automation. When considering walking around a 26,000-square-foot house and turning 300 lights on one at a time, it makes sense to simplify and achieve the same effect at the push of a button. That automation saves time. Time that can be better spent having fun with family and friends in the bowling alley or improving a golf swing.
