Nestled in a canyon of Paradise Valley, Ariz., Crown Canyon Estates is the crown jewel of the Phoenix Mountains Preserve and the wealthiest community in the state – a perfect place for potential custom integration clients.

The ultra-luxury subdivision was envisioned and created by BedBrock Developers, an award-winning local builder and developer. Led by Rich Brock and his team, BedBrock worked closely with longtime integrator partner Creative Sound & Integration (CSI) to outfit every home in Crown Canyon Estates with high-performance smart home technology and top-notch service.

CE Pro contributor Krissy Rushing Tomlin (RISE Media Strategy) conducted this interview with Brock and CSI Co-Owners Ed Moreau and Doug Greenwald (Creative Sound & Integration is also the ProjX360 software developer) to understand how technology and design coalesce in this stunning neighborhood.

Tomlin: How long have BedBrock and CSI been working together?

BROCK: I honestly don’t know! I’m assuming about 20 years. We had worked with many different integrators before meeting Doug and Ed at CSI. One of the things I said to them when we met was that service was our No. 1 requirement for a home technology partner, because the top customer service interaction in the home is always home automation. The homeowner is touching these systems and products like TVs and controls every day. Devices get used often, so it makes sense they require a higher level of customer service.

Tomlin: What set Creative Sound & Integration apart from other home technology firms?

BROCK: It was important that I had a partner who could provide excellent customer service, and Doug pulled through. He always said that they would be there when needed — any day, any hour. One year, we had a client who was having a party on Christmas Day, and the projection screen fell. The customer called me, and I called Doug and Ed, and within the hour, they had technicians out there fixing it.

That was a testimonial to the level of service they provided, and that started it off. I knew that CSI was legit. I’m guessing we’ve done close to 100 projects together since.

GREENWALD: Yes, at least 100. It’s been a lot.

BROCK: We’ve built roughly 300 homes. So, I’d say Creative Sound & Integration works on one-third of all of our business, add to that the remodels — that’s a lot of different projects. Most of them are developments and custom homes. BedBrock started as a custom home and spec home builder.

We’ve evolved into an ultra-luxury new home developer. We build luxury subdivisions. Currently, we have five subdivisions, all managed and installed by CSI.

Tomlin: When you say ‘ultra luxury,’ like Crown Canyon Estates, how does that translate to home automation?

BROCK: Yes, we require the best technology, and that’s another reason to partner with an integrator like Doug. You must have an integration partner that has the brands your company needs. But it’s also about service.

I’ll give you an example. We have a concierge service that goes along with the home automation systems. We provide tremendous service to the client. These homeowners couldn’t live without that type of service, so it’s an integral part of what we do today.

GREENWALD: None of the other builders we work with do this concierge service like BedBrock does. CSI has partnered with OneVision to facilitate service. So, the homeowner has 24/7 access to someone experienced in their technology. BedBrock’s concierge service is for the entire home and includes all the things that a homeowner is going to need at this luxury level.

Our home automation service and Rich’s concierge service are all bundled together for the homeowner as one seamless service. Rich and BedBrock are the visionaries on that, and it helps set them apart. It’s not just building a home. It’s about how the home is going to be handled after the fact, not just the AV, but a host of other things people need. It sets the bar for these neighborhoods.

Tomlin: Outside of technology, what other options are included in CSI’s concierge service?

BROCK: We build very expensive homes, so we want our clients to feel like they are living in a five-star resort. When you are on vacation, the last thing you want to deal with is inconvenience and minutia. Our goal is to enable that five-star experience in clients’ everyday lives.

Concierge service also ensures that the home keeps its value forever. In 10 years, the home will look as great as the day the client moved in. We do monthly inspections, looking for anything that has possibly gone wrong, is broken, needs to be resealed or restrained, and so on.

Creative Sound & Integration has worked on about 100 projects with builder BedBrock Developers over the years. (Courtesy of Creative Sound & Integration)

We also take care of every aspect of property management. Who’s doing the gardening? Cleaning the windows or barbecue grille? We handle everything associated with service on our homes — all in one bill — while managing the various trades and negotiating on the homeowner’s behalf.

Finally, we’re working to provide services outside the home. For example, if the homeowner needs to get to the airport or requires a chef for the weekend, we set that up for them.

One of the greatest things about working with CSI is that they recognized what we were trying to do early on and integrated their partners so we could give a higher level of service to the client across the board. Between both of our companies, no one can touch the level of service we’re offering.

Tomlin: When did you start seeing the trend of people wanting ultra-high-end tech to enable service?

BROCK: In the earlier days when TVs were going flat screen, you had to have someone hang them up. My former profession was in the technology sector, so I was tech-savvy and always interested in what technology was coming to homes. It was obvious that, ultimately, you would be controlling your house through technology.

People like Doug and Ed had a vision, and soon, the best manufacturers came on board. CSI started using those brands and quickly became a top luxury home automation provider.

GREENWALD: For home automation, Crestron is by far the leader. We always went to Crestron even though in the beginning it was a more complex system to program. It started in the commercial sector and all that technology trickled down into the residential side of things.

“We don’t build a house and then ask the customer if they want to add home automation to it. It’s that way from the beginning. Having technology in a luxury home is a necessity. It’s not an option. We can’t do that without an integration company behind it. It’s impossible.” —Rich BedBrock, BedBrock Developers

Fast-forward to today: Crestron Home is available, which is fine-tuned for residential homes with programming that streamlines the user experience, giving homeowners more flexibility to adjust things like lighting loads. Before, the customer had to call the integrator to do things like this. It’s intuitive now. Having brands like Crestron helped set us apart for developers at this level.

Tomlin: What are clients in subdivisions like Crown Canyon Estates looking for from modern smart home systems?

GREENWALD: They want it to work, and if it doesn’t, they want customer service. Ed and I have been in this industry for a long time. We’ve taken the time to do the homework. We don’t jump on the latest-and-greatest-product bandwagon, at least not anymore.

We’ve gone down that road in the past, made those mistakes, and learned from them. In fact, we put products in our own homes and in our showroom before we put them in our clients’ projects to make sure they are reliable.

MOREAU: Like Rich said, he has a technology background, so he’ll call us about something he’s heard about that he may want to incorporate into his homes. Luckily, we have a relationship of trust, so we can tell him when something isn’t ready for prime time. He respects our opinions, and if we tell them it’s not a good idea or isn’t a good fit, he listens.

BROCK: There were a few times over the past 20 years that we tried other integrators or took a chance on new technology. It was a good thing that we did those things, because it made us appreciate how great CSI is; the research Doug and Ed have done for us; and that they are representing the very best products.

Tomlin: Rich, you actually live in one of the Crown Canyon Estates homes?

BROCK: Yes, we just finished the home. We use it as the model home, so it has every bell and whistle. I don’t think we’ve left anything out, right guys?

MOREAU: No, we’ve done things that we’ve never done anywhere before in Rich’s house.

Tomlin: Like what, for example?

MOREAU: Rich recently hosted his daughter’s wedding at his house and wanted to have live music from the band play throughout the speakers. We’ve never done that before.

Tomlin: Can you share a bit more about the Crown Canyon Estates development?

BROCK: Crown Canyon is 12 lots in a 30-acre canyon in Paradise Valley. One of the homes recently sold for more than $30 million — the most expensive new home in Arizona. That house will be spectacular. They’re going to build an underground ice hockey rink, a shooting range, and some other interesting stuff. All the homes are 10,000 to 20,000 square feet and start at $15 million. 

They are built in the Sonoran Contemporary style that emphasizes an indoor-outdoor lifestyle that honors the surroundings, inspired in part by Frank Lloyd Wright’s horizontal Prairie designs. We’ve used the best architects, some with direct ties to Frank Lloyd Wright. Swaback Architects, for example, was founded by Vernon Swaback, Frank Lloyd Wright’s youngest apprentice back in 1957. Renowned architects Stratton Andrews and CP Drewett also designed homes in Crown Canyon.

Tomlin: Who designed your home and are there special features, Rich?

BROCK: CP Drewett. It’s a very minimalist, clean house. It has white concrete floors, rustic walnut ceilings, and structural exposed steel beams throughout. There is no stucco…the exterior of the house consists of fluted block. The most impressive thing is that we screened out and veneered all the walls with the natural stone that we mined when we excavated the site.

The materials on the inside are very similar to the materials on the outside. The interior flows into the exterior, so there’s very little drywall. There are walls of glass that go all the way to the ceiling. It’s magnificent.

Lighting is probably a big deal in homes of this size. What is its impact in your home?

MOREAU: I can’t imagine living in a 10,000-square-foot house and manually trying to turn the lights off every night. We just program a ‘Good Night’ button and everything is either on or off. It’s so simple.

BROCK: Exactly. And as for mood, I’ll give you an example. Creative Sound & Integration set up ‘Party’ lighting for entertaining. As soon as it gets dark outside, we hit that one button. The lights go down to 33% across the entire property. Think how long it would take to go around dimming each light switch on this expansive property and how much convenience this one mode offers.

Tomlin: In terms of safety, how do you keep such an open, airy home secure? 

GREENWALD: We have 14 cameras and full automation. So, if Rich is out of town, he can open the gate to the property remotely, turn the alarm off, see a video feed of guests coming up the driveway, open the garage, and let people into the house. He has complete remote operation of the home. Like Ed mentioned, he can turn lights anywhere in the house on or off, turn the music on, open or close shades, from anywhere in the world.

“It’s not just building the home. It’s about how the home is going to be handled after the fact, not just the AV, but a host of other things people need. It sets the bar for these neighborhoods.” —Doug Greenwald, Custom Sound & Integration

BROCK: It’s wonderful to have that remote capability, because you aren’t burdened to have someone at home to admit entry to the property, whether it’s a guest or a service person. It’s funny because I have another small house up north and for all these years I wasn’t using home automation. Now that I have it in this house…well you get spoiled very quickly. Now, I’m the No. 1 salesperson for this technology.

GREENWALD: He’s always been a great salesperson for smart home technology. Many in the AV industry underestimate the fact that builder partners can be the No. 1 sales guy for technology.

BROCK: When a client asks me ‘what would you do?’ Well, if I’m living with the technology, know it intimately, and believe in it, they’re never going to walk out of the room not going with what I recommend. Once you’ve used it, that’s all you’re going to talk about with your client. It’s also much easier for me to describe it having lived with it.

GREENWALD: The type of clients that Rich describes are exactly the clients we love working with because they believe in what we do. They see the value in our opinions.

Tomlin: Speaking of value, Rich, what are the benefits of having a go-to integration partner?

BROCK: We don’t build a house and then ask the customer if they want to add home automation to it. It’s that way from the beginning. Again, having technology in a luxury home is a necessity today. It’s not an option. Turning your lights on and off,  putting shades up and down — our homes require all that. So, we can’t do that without an integration company behind it. It’s impossible. CSI can provide the level of service that our homes must have.

Tomlin: Doug and Ed, why is it game-changing for Creative Sound & Integration to have a partner like BedBrock?

MOREAU: Because we’ve worked with BedBrock for so long, we know the team very well. We know what types of systems they want to use in their homes. Even though these are extremely high-level custom homes, we have a certain degree of efficiency because we know what to expect.

BedBrock also knows what to expect from us. They know our team, how we work, and how the systems are integrated, and the timelines. It makes the processes go smoothly, especially considering that at any given time we are working on several different BedBrock projects.

Right now, we are working on 10 different projects, all $8 million homes and up. We’re able to handle 10 projects of that size at a time, handle them efficiently, stay on schedule, and always manage and meet expectations because we’re extremely familiar with how the other operates.

GREENWALD: Exactly. Our relationship with BedBrock has evolved our business. It helped us elevate our clientele. From a business standpoint, if you get a couple of accounts like this, that’s really all you need. You have a nice business with steady work. You also get to get more creative when you have a handful of projects that are more intensive rather than several smaller, simpler jobs.

The clientele at this level are some of the nicest people in the world. It’s taken them a long time to get to the top. They just want great products and great service. Overall, it’s been an enriching collaboration and fruitful relationship for all of us, and the results are homes that are breathtakingly beautiful, but also convenient, safe, entertaining, and impeccably serviced.

Both BedBrock Developers and Creative Sound & Integration rely upon their five-star customer service for their affluent clientele. (Courtesy of Creative Sound & Integration)

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