Best Whole-House Installation

The Big Show

With the push of one button, this home shows off everything it can do. And it can do a lot.

Home theater impresario Jeffrey Smith collaborates with his artistic daughter in creating a romantic, rustic “sky lodge” theme for her downtown Denver loft.

Growing up in the bluegrass countryside of Kentucky, Ashley Harper Smith became obsessed with nature. “I was never happier than when I was in the woods, horseback riding with my sister,” she recalls.

With her busy schedule, she yearns for those idyllic days. “I’ve always had this dream of living in a tree house surrounded by woods and nature and horses,” she says.

With the help of her father, Ashley is living her dream.

2008 Cedia Electronic Lifestyles Award Winner

Large Home Theater: Level V Silver Technical Design & Best Overall Winner

Electronic Systems Consultant: Pacific Audio & Communications—Kihei, Hawaii

The inherent risk in designing a home theater—a beautiful-looking space that produces the requisite oooohs and aaaahs—is ending up with a poorly performing room. Add the musthave of incorporating the same architectural detailing used throughout the rest of the home and the risk expands tenfold.

Once upon a time, “ranch living” conjured up images of barnlike structures in a dusty, remote locale.

Fast-forward to now, where a spectacular 20,000-square-foot home sited in Ranch Colony Estates dispels all preconceived notions of what a home on the range should be.

On the drive that leads to movie producer Peter Guber’s mountain get-away, the aspen leaves jingle like gold coins in the breeze. It’s a special effect that furthers the notion that in Aspen, money grows on trees. It better, because local real estate firm Coates, Reid, Waldron just sold Guber’s Mandalay Ranch—all 65 stunning acres—to a local philanthropic family for $46 million.