Document Q-72 · V1 — April 2026
The Downey Brief — Preliminary Budget

A quiet,
considered
home.

A first read on the low-voltage scope at Downey — the total budget, what each system delivers, and how the pieces add up.

Project file
Residence
Downey
Architect
dSpace Studio
Anticipated start
Late 2027
Document
Preliminary, V1
r:home — Dependable. Intelligence.
The Downey BriefIssue 01 — 2026
01 — Summaryr:home / DowneyPage 02
All-in budget, low-voltage scope

The Downey low-voltage scope, delivered turnkey.

Equipment, programming, project management, and labor — all baked in. The spread reflects design choices still ahead, not a tier ladder.

$135Kto$156K
No.
System
Budget range
01
Lighting Control
$45K—$50K
02
Interior Audio
$35K—$40K
03
Wired & Wireless Network
$13K—$16K
04
Surveillance
$11K—$13K
05
Televisions & Mounts
$12K—$14K
06
Rack, Power & Surge Protection
$11K—$13K
07
Wiring Infrastructure
$6.8K—$8.0K
08
Exterior Audio
$2.7K—$3.5K
Total scope, all-in
$135K—$156K
r:home — The Downey BriefPreliminary · V1 · 04.29.202602
02 — A noter:home / DowneyPage 03
An introduction

A first read.

This document is not a contract, and it isn't a quote. It's a frame — a way of putting credible numbers against the experiences we're proposing for the home, well before any drawings are committed.

Pricing is all-in: equipment, programming, project management, and labor are baked into every range. The spread on each line reflects the design choices still ahead, not a good–better–best ladder. We'd expect to refine to a single number around the time framing begins, working from the architectural set as it develops with dSpace.

If a system feels right, we'll hold it. If it feels too much, we'll adjust. The numbers are here to be reacted to.

r:home — The Downey BriefPreliminary · V1 · 04.29.202603
03 — The eight systemsr:home / DowneyPages 04–05
The eight systems, in detail

A whole
quiet house.

Each line is a single budget range — a realistic spread for the experience as drawn. Tap any row to read what it includes, where it lives, and the small things that make it feel resolved.
01
Lighting Control
A Lutron RadioRA 3 system that orchestrates every fixture in the house — from a quiet morning glow to a full evening scene, brought up by a single keypad.
$45K—$50K
What's included
  • Wireless head-end in a dedicated closet
    The Lutron processor and ancillary hardware are banked together in a single equipment closet, with wireless access points distributed through the home so every keypad reaches the processor reliably — no visible hardware in the rooms.
    Centralized
  • Whole-home scene control
    Pre-programmed scenes — Morning, Day, Evening, Entertain, Night — on every keypad, tuned to the architecture and to how you live.
    20 keypads
  • Refined dimming on every fixture
    Sunnata Pro LED+ dimmers on each switched load. Smooth, flicker-free, low-end performance suited to architectural fixtures.
    110 dimmers
  • Astronomical timeclock & away modes
    Lights respond to sunrise and sunset year-round. When you travel, the home rehearses your patterns so it never reads as empty.
    House-wide
  • App & voice control
    Discreet phone access for guests and staff; integration with the home's voice platform of choice.
    Standard
  • Programming & calibration
    Two on-site visits to dial scenes with you after move-in, plus a follow-up at the six-month mark.
    Included
Lighting Control — architectural drawing
Scope at a glance
Designer keypads
20 locations
Dimmable loads
110 circuits
Head end
Banked in dedicated closet
Wireless coverage
Lutron access points throughout
Lighting controls are banked into a dedicated closet, with wireless Lutron access points distributed through the home so every keypad reaches the processor reliably. Pricing reflects keypad count, dimmer count, and programming sophistication on this plan.
02
Interior Audio
Architectural speakers that disappear into the wall and ceiling — and a multi-zone Sonos backbone that lets each room play its own thing without ever picking up a remote.
$35K—$40K
What's included
  • Invisible architectural speakers
    Plastered flush into the wall and ceiling — no grilles, no visible hardware. The room sounds full, and the source disappears.
    Primary living, dining, primary suite
  • Discreet round in-ceiling speakers
    Slim, paintable trim in secondary spaces — kitchen, hallways, baths, guest rooms — voiced to match the invisible speakers.
    5 stereo pairs + 2 single-stereo
  • Multi-zone Sonos streaming
    Each zone plays independently from any source — Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, AirPlay, vinyl via the turntable input.
    8 zones
  • Multi-channel amplification
    Rack-mounted amplifiers sized for the room volumes, with headroom to play quietly and beautifully — which is how the house will mostly use them.
    Rack-mounted
  • Tuning & voicing
    Each zone is measured and EQ'd to the room after construction settles — typically a half-day visit a few weeks post-move-in.
    Included
Interior Audio — architectural drawing
Scope at a glance
Listening zones
8 zones
Invisible speakers
Primary spaces
Round in-ceiling
Secondary spaces
Streaming
Sonos, multi-room
Specifies invisible in-wall speakers in primary spaces and discreet round speakers elsewhere. Multi-zone amplification on Sonos.
03
Wired & Wireless Network
An enterprise-grade backbone — fiber-fed switching, ceiling-mounted Wi-Fi 7 access points, and full coverage to the property line outdoors.
$13K—$16K
What's included
  • Wi-Fi 7 throughout the home
    Recessed ceiling-mounted access points placed for even coverage — no dead zones, no dropped video calls, no asking which network is the right one.
    3 indoor APs
  • Coverage to the property line
    An all-weather access point covers the exterior grounds, terrace, and pool deck. The network simply follows you outside.
    1 outdoor AP
  • Wired runs to every room
    Hardwired Cat-6A drops at every TV location, every desk, and key media positions. Wireless is the convenience; wired is the foundation.
    House-wide
  • Guest network & device isolation
    Guests, staff, and IoT devices each ride a separate logical network. Privacy and security without any visible complexity.
    Included
  • Remote monitoring
    Our team sees the network's health from our office. Most issues are resolved before you notice them.
    Ongoing
Wired & Wireless Network — architectural drawing
Scope at a glance
Indoor access points
3 ceiling-mounted
Outdoor access point
1 all-weather
Switch
24-port managed PoE+
Gateway
Enterprise security
WiFi 7 throughout, with a hardened outdoor access point for the exterior grounds. Designed to support every connected system on this plan and to age into the next decade.
04
Surveillance
Discreet exterior cameras and a video doorbell, recorded locally so footage stays on your property — never in a third-party cloud.
$11K—$13K
What's included
  • Discreet exterior cameras
    Small, neutral-finish cameras placed by the architect's exterior elevations — covering approaches, garage, and the rear elevation without ever looking like a security installation.
    5 cameras
  • Video doorbell with two-way audio
    Speak with whoever's at the door from anywhere — phone, keypad, or kitchen tablet.
    Primary entry
  • Local recording
    All footage is recorded to a dedicated appliance inside the home. Nothing leaves the property unless you want it to.
    16TB enterprise drive
  • Person & vehicle detection
    Smart filtering surfaces only the events that matter — a person at the gate, a delivery, a vehicle in the drive — and ignores wind and wildlife.
    Included
  • Phone alerts & history
    Browse and export footage from your phone with a clean, calm interface.
    Included
Surveillance — architectural drawing
Scope at a glance
Exterior cameras
5 turret
Video doorbell
Primary entry
Recording
16TB local
Retention
30+ days
Five exterior turret cameras placed for full perimeter coverage, plus a video doorbell at the primary entry. Local recording on a dedicated appliance.
05
Televisions & Mounts
Two principal television locations — display, low-profile mounting, premium cabling — and a single dedicated soundbar position for the casual living TV.
$12K—$14K
What's included
  • Display allowance
    A budget allocation toward the televisions themselves, sized so you can choose between a high-end OLED and a brighter premium LED depending on the room's light.
    $8,000 allowance
  • Architectural mounting
    Low-profile fixed mounts that hold the display flush. Drywall recess and concealed cabling specified at framing, not retrofitted afterward.
    2 positions
  • Premium soundbar
    A Sonos Arc Ultra at the casual living TV — wall-mounted, cabled to the rack, integrated with the rest of the audio system.
    1 position
  • Cable & signal management
    Full-bandwidth HDMI cabling rated for current and future formats, run cleanly back to the rack rather than terminated behind the TV.
    Both positions
Televisions & Mounts — architectural drawing
Scope at a glance
TV positions
2
Display allowance
Included
Soundbar
Sonos Arc Ultra
Mounting
Low-profile fixed
Reflects display allowance and the integration work to make TVs read as architecture: flat against the wall, cables concealed, sound matched.
06
Rack, Power & Surge Protection
The mechanical room of the system — a properly cooled, properly powered enclosure where every component lives, labeled and serviceable.
$11K—$13K
What's included
  • Properly cooled, properly powered
    A floor-standing 27U rack with active thermal management. Every cable is labeled at both ends. Service is fast because the rack is intelligible.
    Floor-standing
  • Network-monitored power
    Twelve-outlet conditioned power. Each outlet can be cycled remotely — so a balky component can be reset without dispatching a technician.
    12 outlets
  • Battery backup
    An online double-conversion UPS rides through brownouts and outages cleanly. The network, lighting hubs, and surveillance keep running.
    2000VA
  • Surge protection at the rack & at the panel
    Layered protection so a lightning strike or utility event doesn't reach the equipment.
    Included
Rack, Power & Surge Protection — architectural drawing
Scope at a glance
Rack
27U floor-standing
Power conditioning
12-outlet IP-managed
UPS
2000VA online
Cable management
Dressed & labeled
Floor-standing rack with active cooling, network-monitored power conditioning, and a dedicated UPS so the house rides through utility events without interruption.
07
Wiring Infrastructure
The cable plant the house is built around — every TV outlet, speaker location, keypad, camera, and access point pulled and terminated during framing.
$6.8K—$8.0K
What's included
  • Pre-wire during framing
    Every cable for every system is pulled before drywall — speakers, cameras, access points, keypads, TVs, networking. Coordinated with the architect's plans.
    Whole house
  • TV outlet kits
    Each television position gets coax, dual data, and concealed power — terminated to a clean wall plate that disappears behind the display.
    2 locations
  • Brand-matched wall plates
    Plates and inserts color-matched to the Lutron Claro standard so that every device on every wall reads as one family.
    Throughout
  • As-built documentation
    Final drawings showing every cable run, terminated location, and panel position. Handed off at completion for the home's permanent record.
    Delivered at closeout
Wiring Infrastructure — architectural drawing
Scope at a glance
Cable plant
House-wide
TV/data outlets
Coordinated w/ architect
Termination
Brand-matched plates
Documentation
As-built drawings
Coordinated with the GC and architect during rough-in. The most consequential phase — done correctly here, every other system simply works.
08
Exterior Audio
A single zone of architectural exterior speakers tuned for the patio — present at conversation level, never spilling onto the property.
$2.7K—$3.5K
What's included
  • Architectural patio speakers
    A balanced array of small satellites and a buried bass module. Even coverage across the seating area, voiced for outdoor listening at conversation volume.
    1 system
  • Unified control
    The patio appears as another zone in the same Sonos interface — no separate app, no separate logic.
    Integrated
  • Weatherized & concealed
    All hardware rated for outdoor exposure, placed behind landscape elements per the architect's intent.
    Included
Exterior Audio — architectural drawing
Scope at a glance
Zone
Patio
Speakers
Architectural patio system
Amplification
Sonos AMP
Control
Same as interior
Patio-series speakers paired with a Sonos amplifier — the same control surface as the interior zones, so it's one less app to learn.
Total scope, all-in
$135K—$156K
r:home — The Downey BriefPreliminary · V1 · 04.29.202604 / 05
04 — A second lensr:home / DowneyPage 06
By room

From the
inside.

The same scope, viewed from inside the home — how the systems converge in the rooms that matter most. Use this to picture the experience, not the equipment list.
Room

Primary Living

The room the house is anchored around. Architectural lighting, invisible in-wall audio, and a discreet wall-mounted television treated as architecture rather than electronics.
LightingInterior AudioTVNetwork
Room

Primary Suite

Dedicated keypad scenes for waking, reading, and night. A discreet audio zone tuned to be present at low volume.
LightingInterior AudioNetwork
Room

Kitchen & Dining

Layered lighting on multiple keypads, with audio zones that flow seamlessly between the cooking and dining footprints.
LightingInterior AudioNetwork
Room

Office & Library

Hardwired data, dedicated lighting scenes for work and reading, and a quiet audio zone for the room.
LightingAudioNetwork
Room

Guest Suites

Simplified keypad set, audio zone, and Wi-Fi tuned for the way guests use the rooms.
LightingAudioNetwork
Room

Exterior & Grounds

Patio audio, outdoor Wi-Fi to the property line, perimeter cameras, and exterior keypad control of landscape and façade lighting.
Exterior AudioNetworkSurveillanceLighting
Room

Back of House

The rack room, central wiring, network gateway, surge and battery backup. The infrastructure on which everything else sits.
Rack & PowerWiring InfrastructureNetwork
r:home — The Downey BriefPreliminary · V1 · 04.29.202606
05 — From herer:home / DowneyPage 07
Next

The easy part.

From here, we typically refine in three small passes — none of which need to happen all at once. Where a system feels right, we hold it. Where it feels too much or too little, we adjust before any drawings are committed.

→ 01
A walk-through together

An hour with you to talk through the eight systems above — which ones matter most, which feel optional, anything missing from how you imagine living in the house.

→ 02
Coordination with dSpace

We work directly off the architectural set as it develops, so cable plans, ceiling devices, and keypad locations are resolved in drawings rather than on site.

→ 03
A firm proposal at framing

Once the lighting plan is final and rough-in is imminent, this becomes a single, fixed number with a delivery schedule.

r:home — The Downey BriefPreliminary · V1 · 04.29.202607