Mid Century Masterpiece

Some houses we get to know twice.

We first met this one in 2017, while it was still being built. Architect Christopher Robertson of Robertson Design spent two years creating it on the site of an original MacKie and Kamrath residence in River Oaks, carrying the mid-century ideas forward in walls of glass above a green ravine. During construction, our team installed the foundations a home like this deserves: a Crestron lighting control system with single engraved keypads instead of banks of switches, thirteen motorized shades, warm LED lighting inside the cabinetry, and structured wiring run to every room that would ever need it.

Mid-century modern living and dining room in River Oaks with layered lighting, motorized shades, and whole-home music by Media Systems

Three years later, a new family bought the house and asked us to make it fully theirs.

We expanded the system into whole home control: television, music, lighting, motorized shades, climate, cameras, pool, and access, all from one or two button presses. Because the house was now finished and lived in, we retrofitted the new wiring beneath it, so nothing above was disturbed.

Engraved Crestron keypad on a grasscloth wall in a River Oaks smart home by Media Systems
Automated interior shutters in a River Oaks mid-century home by Media Systems

In the family room, the equipment lives in a closet at the front of the house. The room shows an 85 inch picture and clean walls, with speakers flush behind paintable grilles and the subwoofer hidden inside the window seat.

Family room with wall mounted television, concealed equipment, and colorful art in a River Oaks home by Media Systems

Music plays in zones through the kitchen, family room, sunken living room, covered porch, and out at the pool, where landscape speakers keep the sound even and gentle instead of loud. For the sunken living room, the owners wanted sound worthy of real listening, so we placed a pair of Dynaudio speakers finished in walnut. They read as furniture, not equipment.

In-wall speaker blending into a grasscloth wall in a River Oaks home by Media Systems
Dining area beneath sculptural lighting in a River Oaks mid-century modern home by Media Systems

In the primary bedroom, a Samsung Frame television sits flat on the wall like art, with a soundbar dressed in a custom Leon Tonecase below, placed in coordination with interior design firm Creative Tonic so that technology and design were decided together, not negotiated after the fact.

Living space in a River Oaks mid-century modern smart home by Media Systems

Commercial grade WiFi now covers the home and the backyard, and we monitor the system remotely, which means most issues are resolved before anyone reaches for the phone. Over the following year, the owners kept inviting us back to add more. Seven years, two owners, one house. That is the kind of relationship we build.

Great room with walls of glass and whole home lighting and music in a River Oaks smart home by Media Systems
Dining room with pendant lighting and whole-home music in a River Oaks home by Media Systems

The home has been featured in PaperCity.

Layered lighting on a sculptural art wall in a River Oaks mid-century modern living room by Media Systems Houston