At the International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Las Vegas, NV, earlier this year, show organizers employed expert builders/craftsmen/tradesmen/and installers who conceived, designed, created, and built a new $15.5 million modern custom home designed to set the standard for luxury living in 2025 and beyond. According to organizers, “The New American Home 2025 is a statement of what’s to come in the world of residential architecture. Join us as we redefine the standard of luxury living.” Savant and the Savant Power system were a major part of adding the luxury experience to this home.
Learn all about the smart tech & power from Savant in The New American Home…
Show attendees toured this dramatic, newly constructed, modern, open-concept, 5-bedroom/6-bathroom, 9,047 sq. ft., $15.5 million showcase home, which is set in the mountains of Henderson, Nevada, with an unobstructed, breathtaking panoramic view overlooking the dazzling lights of the city of Las Vegas and the vast surrounding desert landscape. The New American Home also includes a large underground wine cellar with a separate tasting room, which features glass walls and can even be seen from above through a glass floor section on the main floor. It’s an incredibly dramatic design that makes a real statement about the taste and style of the home’s owner.
But perhaps the real showcase is the Savant smart technology used throughout the home, and particularly the Savant Power installation to acquire, store, manage, and implement both solar and grid power in all zones of the home… including the 5-car garage, which, for you luxury automotive moguls out there, is lift-ready to store an additional 2 vehicles for a total of 7 luxury vehicles.
Adding Luxury to the Luxury Living Experience
I would argue that the technology from Savant is what really adds the “luxury” to the experience of living in a luxury home. The evidence to support my theory is the amount of technology organizers chose to include in The New American Home.
To implement an extensive and sophisticated technology installation, organizers used three electrical contractors. In addition to a general electrical contractor running tens of thousands of feet of Romex wiring throughout the home, show organizers also selected Las Vegas-based Savant integrators Fusion Home Systems (for networking, AV, shading, lighting, climate and power control) and B&F Construction (for solar systems and Savant power with battery backup) to set the standard for both the smarts and the power of The New American Home. While both Fusion and B&F are low-voltage integrators, they are each licensed electrical contractors as well.
1 Jobsite, 3 Electrical Contractors…Sounds Like Mayhem
Three electrical contractors? Does that sound like mayhem? As Fusion Home System’s owner Matt Smith told me in a Zoom video interview, the way to make that work is “We stay in our lane.” B&F Construction’s Tim Fromhart Jr. agreed, saying, “I don’t want to step on toes, so we play nice in the sandbox.”
Fusion Home Systems is a leading integration firm in the Las Vegas area focused on smart home and home automation technology solutions custom-tailored to augment the lifestyles of its largely luxury clientele. Owner Matt Smith says the company focuses on residential installations in homes valued at $5 million and up. However, he notes that Fusion “also has a footprint in the hotel, casino, and Class A office” segments as well.
A First Time with Savant Power
Fusion has been a Savant dealer since 2020 and, on this project, was responsible for networking, AV, motorized shading, motorized door systems, lighting, climate and power control. Notably, this installation was Fusion’s first experience with Savant Power.
Tim Fromhart Jr. is a cofounder of B&F Construction, a full-service construction, remodeling, and solar solutions company that serves the greater Las Vegas, NV area. Like Fusion, B&F is a licensed electrical contractor, but one with a specific focus on solar and energy management. Tim tells me he’s a bit of what we in tech like to call an “early adopter” and has been involved in solar energy since 2010. The company is active in both residential and commercial projects.
Solar With Power Control was a ‘Niche’ Business; But Is About to Explode in Popularity
B&F Construction has been a Savant Power dealer for about two years. This was not his first Savant Power installation, as he’s had previous projects before this one. On this project B&F was responsible for installing and integrating the photovoltaic (PV or solar) system, Savant inverters, and Savant batteries. Tim is a big fan of Savant Power solutions and hopes to become a Savant Ambassador. Up to now, he tells me, the the use of solar with control of power delivery has been a niche business, but he’s convinced it’s about to explode.
I think it’s expanding rapidly, given all the energy stuff that’s going on in the marketplace. Let’s put it this way, the rates are going to get crazier. They’re being very volatile towards solar. So batteries really come into play with net metering and some of those type of issues that are coming into play here.
Tim Fromhart Jr, B&F Construction co-founder
A Division of Labor Helps Propel Results on a Tight Time Schedule
Since both Matt and Tim were responsible for independent parts of the Savant Power installation, this division of labor helped them deal with a tight time schedule on this project. Matt told me that when the builder brought Fusion and B&F into this project, there was a very compressed timeline. “We had to do a lot of things in a very, very compressed timeline,” Matt told me, “Rough-in began in July, and the home’s completion was scheduled for the last week of October.” This is not a lot of time for a project of this relative sophistication.
Both Fusion and B&F were brought into this project by the builder, Sun West Custom Homes, who partnered with the International Builders Show to create The New American Home 2025. And both Matt and Tim credit Savant for partnering with them on this project and stepping up to become an official sponsor of The New American Home 2025. LG also joined as a partner for both appliances and TVs.
Each Integrator’s List of Responsibilities
Fusion’s punch list of systems responsibilities included:
- 8 zones of video on a 10GB video-over-IP network
- 16 zones of audio using conventional Savant SIPA-125 powered with AVB PoE (power over Ethernet) small aperture speakers
- 10 zones of climate control
- Motorized shading
- Motorized door systems
- Full lighting control; NextGen lighting with Ascend keypads
- Ubiquity Wi-Fi throughout the property
- Savant Power panel module devices installation
- All system programming
While B&F’s punch list is not quite as long as Fusion’s, it was no less important, and included:
- Full solar system installation
- Savant Batteries, 40kWh of storage
- Savant Inverters
- Automatic transfer switch
- Sub-panels to feed inverters and batteries
The Results?
Both integrators agreed the final result was stunning and presented luxury living at its finest. The greatest challenge for them? Definitely the compressed schedule which Matt said was about 50% of the time they would normally like to have had. Considering the increased pressure of a shorter work window, the sophistication of the installation, and the fact that it was a $15.5 million luxury home that had to be done just right – it was a challenge to get it done…but it was a challenge met.
Both Matt and Tim expressed satisfaction with the final result.
It was a fun project. At the end of the day, everything worked. And you know, it’s because of people like Matt, myself and my team and his team, as well as, all of the people involved that really made it all work. And Savant, too. They helped every step of the way through this project. I mean, they really stand behind their stuff.
Tim Fromhart, Jr.
At the end of it all, it turned out to be a much easier project than I thought it would be. The final requirements from my team were much less than I expected at the outset. You know, when we took this on, we were fully committed. We were going to roll through it no matter what happened. But you know, relative to the other disciplines, we had to manage incorporating the energy solution. And as it turned out, it was pretty painless.
Matt Smith
Final Thoughts on Employing Savant Power – Matt – ‘Probably the Coolest Thing’
I turned to Matt first, as this was his first Savant Power installation. Here is what he told me…
“So even after going through [Savant] training, I didn’t fully understand what the benefit to the homeowner was of Savant Power. We live in an area where there’s a pretty stable grid. We don’t have weather outages – it’s not like we live in California, tornado country, or where we have frequent power outages, right? So I had a hard time kind of wrapping my head around what the value proposition would be to the client.
“Then, when we initially commissioned the system, I saw how you can watch the flow of energy and how it would pull off the batteries during times of peak demand, to offset the energy rate. That was really kind of cool for me. And really, that’s an automatic thing. It was very easy. I didn’t have to do anything. Tim didn’t have to do anything. That’s just how it’s structured, which was pretty cool.
“The way that it was cycling in and utilizing the batteries and discharging during those peak demand hours…that was probably the coolest thing. How the system was powering much of the house off the solar array when the batteries were charged and then switching over to battery power is very cool.”
Final Thoughts on Employing Savant Power – Tim – ‘A Level of Control Not Previously Available’
Tim chimed in as this installation, like his others, continues to demonstrate – in his mind – why Savant Power makes so much sense…
What I like is that with Savant Power, Savant provides a solution to control individual sub-panels and even individual loads without having to set up a critical load panel. In fact, every panel in the house is a critical load panel if you want it to be! And that’s really awesome, because you can control scenes down to, for example, as power deplenishes from the battery, you can control scenes from there. You can start kicking other loads off, and start to minimize others that are on…to prioritize what you deem to be the really critical loads. That’s one of the really neat things about Savant Power: it gives a level of control not previously available.
Matt sums it all up, adding: You know, if I were building a home for my family, it would really be a no-brainer to incorporate Savant Power. Building a luxury home without Savant Power is like buying a car with manual windows. It doesn’t even compute to not have that power layer covered.
For More Information…
My special thanks to Matt Smith and Tim Fromhart, Jr. for their generous contributions of thoughts, time, and photos, for this article. I also want to thank Savant for connecting us on this story.
For more information on Savant Power, see: savant.com/power.
Learn all about the New American Home 2025 by visiting tnah.com.
Fusion Home Systems – 3675 W. Teco Ave, Ste 7, Las Vegas, NV 89118 – (web) fusionsystemslv.com – (tel)702.240.6399.
B&F Construction – 5440 S. Cameron St., Ste 105, Las Vegas, NV 89118 – (web) bfconstructionlv.com – (tel)702.941.7994
By the way, this home is available today at a reduced price. It is on the market for just $14,999,990.
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