shoptalk a wireless smart home and solar solution when they saw the amount of unnecessary wiring that was about to be installed in this small home through another smart-home automation company.” It won the Sustainable Westport green award for the innovative use of technology to provide energy-efficient solutions. Take a closer look at the system at the Bedford Square showroom; ask for a demo of the Apple GROUNDBREAKING HomeKit platform. HOME TECHNOLOGY Voice command This house on Old lights and music. “You Mill Beach features can check on your TecKnow’s smarthome from anywhere living ecosystem, with Tesla and Apple in the world. It’s technologies. better than having It’s efficient, voicea high-end security activated and cool. system because it can not only alert the alarm company, but “It can be used in place of a generator also automate what should happen for clean, efficient, quiet energy that in case of intrusion and prevent the can run your whole house whether dreaded false alarms that bring the hooked up to the grid or to a solar entire fire department to your home array,” says Burke. “It allows you to store unnecessarily,” says Burke. “When energy from the grid or solar. Solar can the kids get off the bus, a smart home run the house during the day and store can open the garage doors and unlock the excess energy production into the the front door, and you can see who battery, and then the house can run off is entering or exiting…[and] a ‘Good the Tesla Powerwall at night.” Night’ scene shuts the house down Both solar and smart automation to minimize energy usage, locks the can be brought into any home, doors, turns down the heat or A/C, existing or new construction. Consider shuts off the TV and turns off all those TecKnow’s Old Mill Beach project. “MGA lights in the basement that your kids [Michael Greenberg & Associates] left on when they went upstairs.” builders and the owner were conscience Bedford Square, 12 Elm Street, of maintaining the original footprint Westport; 203-TEC-KNOW; tecknow.me and contracted TecKnow to provide —Diane Sembrot
USE THE FORCE HOME AUTOMATION THAT FEELS LIKE JEDI POWERS smarter, in a more sustainable way. “We consider solar an integral part of our design of a ‘smart-living ecosystem’ to allow homes to be powered by the sun and controlled by your voice. Coupled with the automation, we create homes that can be optimized for energy-efficient savings and reduce our carbon footprint. We partner with the best solar companies and work with Tesla for solar-storage options to design optimal energy-efficient systems.” While solar isn’t critical to smart-home automation, they do complement each other. The Tesla Powerwall proves its worth after a storm, or even just high winds, knocks out power around town.
Everyday Luxury A NEW GENERAL STORE offers a selection of everyday essentials
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modern-day general store that elevates utility items has recently arrived in Litchfield. Milton Market aims to fulfill everyday needs in the chicest way possible. Founders Martha Fish and Gerardo Figueroa, two former Calvin Klein executives with a long history in luxury and fashion, believe that “luxury is a point of view, not a price point.” Step inside to browse through home décor
left: Milton Market founders Gerardo Figueroa and Martha Fish. right: Sir/Madam still life pitchers, Steele Canvas tote bags and Jessie Lazar pottery are just some of the finds to discover at Milton Market.
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and gifts such as Sir/Madam Georgian candlesticks, vintage glassware, Jessie Lazar pottery, and Hawkins New York linen napkins and hand-knotted napkin rings. You can also pick up beauty products from brands such as Saint Olio, Jao and Costa Brazil, the line launched by Francesco Costa, and seasonal artist installations and vintage furniture finds are on display. 14 Cobble Court, Litchfield; miltonmarketct.com
PHOTOGRAPHY: TECKNOW: JOHN VIDELER; MILTON MARKET: ROBERT JOHANSSON
A Use the Force Years fter two decades of professional experience taught him that tech can’t go it alone, Phil Levieff went his own way. Two years ago, he founded TecKnow. “Tech needs service, design, a focus on privacy and the ability to leverage one platform to create efficiencies,” says business partner Kim Burke. “Phil began integrating smart-home devices into his own home utilizing the Apple HomeKit platform and, at the same time, purchased his first electric car, a Tesla. He began to recognize that this was the new and better way to live.” TecKnow pairs solar power and storage with smart technology to offer homeowners a way to live cheaper,