Staying Connected

If you’re not on the water at the Lake of the Ozarks, what are you doing? Many homeowners are entertaining in style with home media and theater. Robert Allen is one of them. When his son visits from New York, he wants everyone to enjoy time together, and that often involves listening to surround sound or watching digital satellite television.

If you're not on the water at the Lake of the Ozarks, what are you doing? Many homeowners are entertaining in style with home media and theater. Robert Allen is one of them. When his son visits from New York, he wants everyone to enjoy time together, and that often involves listening to surround sound or watching digital satellite television.

Robert, a Kansas City-based builder who also does projects around the lake, adds that a lot of his clients want the same thing, not only to enjoy their time at the lake but also to stay connected back home. “A lot of the people we build homes for are business people and come for three or four days to a week at a time, and they need to stay in touch while they're away,” he explains. 
The spectrum of how technologically connected you can be while at the Lake runs from opting for basic Internet service and satellite television with surround sound to wiring the house fully with flat-screen televisions, surround sound in every room (including those outside) and installing home theater systems.

Movies at Home
Jamie Corwin, co-owner of The Entertainer, a Jefferson City-based company that installs entertainment and security systems in homes on the lake, says that a growing number of people are opting for home theaters. “Many people are putting in dedicated rooms rather than having just their television and surround sound in the family room downstairs or on the main floor,” he says. “We're definitely seeing more being spent on making true theaters with columns, theater seating and the [electronic] systems that go with that.”

He also notes that attitudes have shifted since he began in the business in 1981. “Even in the bigger, nicer homes, people would want nice systems but not necessarily go all out on a lake home. Now, we are definitely seeing people who want the best entertainment and security systems they can get and are spending more money to get them,” Jamie says, estimating that the cost of a home theater can run from $12,000 for a basic system to more than $75,000 for a top-of-the-line system that includes theater seats.

Blu-ray systems are now also a common request, as are audio-video distribution systems, which sync videos with music, giving a concert-like feel. 

Notably, these advanced systems aren't limited to just your residence; Jamie says boat owners can take advantage as well. “When people are at the lake, it's all about the party,” he says, adding that sometimes people spend even more on audio-video systems for their boats than they do in their homes. 

I Spy
One of the newest and most practical ways to stay connected is to keep a watchful eye on your lake home when you're not there. Some security systems allow you to position cameras in and around your home and log onto the Internet to see what's happening while you're away. Cameras are wired to a DVR, which records motion. You can check to see if your home and boat are safe after a storm or if anything has been stolen from the property. Most systems also give you the option of remotely controlling the system so you don't have to give the security code to housekeepers or repairmen. 

New homes are typically wired in advance for this, but if you want to install such a security system in an older home, you can opt for wireless, which is a little less  reliable but still provides good protection, Jamie says. A typical homeowner installs four to six cameras and spends between $5,000 and $6,000 on a system.

The Future Is Almost Here
“People are really looking for high-tech in their lake homes now,” agrees Fran Campbell Johnson, a local real estate agent with Re/Max. Unfortunately, in some remote areas of the lake, Internet options aren't that great. Many homeowners still only have the option for Internet or satellite, or wireless cards if they can get a signal from a cellular tower. If you're going with a satellite hook-up, it can be routed to wireless Internet for the house. Others can hook up DSL if cable is available. 

All lake homes, however, already have the option to make the future now. Jamie says there is more interest in ‘smart homes,' which can be programmed to turn music, lights, a home theater system and other gadgets on at a certain time. “The future is starting to become more real. It's not quite here yet, but we're getting closer,” he says.