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NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin’s house is a smart home masterpiece

There are a number of advantages to being Denny Hamlin, the NASCAR driver and Daytona 500 winner.

One of those is the money to create a customized 30,000-square foot smart home in Lake Norman, North Carolina that includes a basketball court, bowling alley, helicopter pad, and a golf simulator.

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The home is unique not only because Hamlin can play a game of one-on-one in it with his friends, but also because it’s a tricked-out smart home masterpiece designed by Interactive Interiors using the Elan Entertainment & Control System. It’s loaded with a single system that can control everything via a related app – including Hamlin’s entertainment system, lighting, and security.  Hamlin can control lighting and 32 zones of audio, video, and security from anywhere at any time.

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“Denny Hamlin is familiar with control because he had used a different system in a past home, but wasn’t happy with the complexity of the interface and the issues that kept arising,” said Brian Berg, president of Interactive, in a statement. “He asked me to install the most reliable and easiest-to-use system on the market, and I confidently suggested Elan.”

Interactive and Elan created the entertainment system on a whole-home Ubiquiti wireless network. Twenty four Samsung 60-inch televisions were installed inside and outside, and a Samsung 88-inch curved-screen TV was installed in the home’s central media room.

They also built a home theater with a 110-inch projection screen and an accompanying Sony SXRD Projector equipped with 4K Ultra HD resolution at a 16:9 ratio.

“We worked closely with the custom cabinet builder to create 55-inch panels surrounding the theater screen so that Hamlin can watch five independent channels at the same time, which is ideal for enjoying different races or games simultaneously,” Berg said. “Together, we also designed a custom wood frame around the screen with embedded Lutron lighting, all of which is automated through the Elan system.”

The system includes audio controllers and touchscreens throughout. Interior decorator Scott Carpenter worked with Interactive to determine whether each aspect of the technology throughout the home should be showcased or hidden.

“Denny wanted the overall design aesthetic to be clean, simple, and contemporary,” Carpenter said. “In addition to the unique architectural and design elements we incorporated, we also played with technology to achieve our goal. We installed custom-built LED lighting strips across many of the home’s moldings, especially for the home’s art gallery wall.”

Interactive installed a Holovision doorbell, intercom, and camera compatible with the Elan system, which means that Hamlin can “answer” the front door from anywhere in the home or the world. A GE security system was added as well.

“Elan ties all of my home’s components together and makes them accessible from anywhere in the world,” Hamlin said in a statement. “I couldn’t be happier with how the system turned out.”

Karl Utermohlen
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Karl Utermohlen is a finance and tech journalist with an MFA in creative writing from the University of Idaho. his do Zelda…
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