Gramophone

The Slate House

Rising with Intention

Set on three wooded acres in Greenspring Valley and surrounded by protected Maryland Environmental Trust land, Slate House stands as a quiet meditation on resilience. After a devastating fire claimed the original 1960s ranch home, the opportunity was not simply to rebuild, but to reimagine with care, clarity, and deep respect for the land.

Architecture firm Ziger|Snead and interior designer Jay Jenkins led that vision, shaping the soul of the home around memory and renewal, protection and transparency. The 7,000-square-foot residence embraces an archetypal gable form, deliberate in its simplicity. Cathedral ceilings draw the eye toward the surrounding forest canopy. Dark slate and charred wood protect the façade while referencing the former home. Mahogany-framed window walls dissolve the boundary between interior and landscape. Landscape design by Campion/Hruby reinforces the material discipline, grounding the home in stone, steel, wood, and water.

Gramophone’s role was to support that vision with systems held to the same standard of intention. When technology is done well, it doesn't compete with great design. It deepens the experience of living within it.

After losing a home to an electrical fire, safety and reliability were paramount. Gramophone was engaged not only for audiovisual integration, but to provide high-voltage electrical services and lighting control, engineering the home’s performance from the ground up.

Working alongside the architects, designer, and builder from the earliest stages, we developed an integrated ecosystem that enhances daily life while remaining visually silent. Lighting, shading, audio, control, and life-safety systems were detailed to preserve sightlines, protect material integrity, and honor the home’s reductive geometry. Technology here could not feel applied. It had to be architectural.

The result is a residence where the design and architecture lead and the systems behind it remain present, powerful, and nearly invisible.

READ MORE

Project Team & Scope

Electrical & Infrastructure

  • Full high-voltage electrical services
  • Centralized lighting control infrastructure
  • Structured wiring and organized equipment systems
  • Engineered life-safety integration

Lighting & Shading Control

  • Premium Crestron and Lutron automation
  • (3) Centralized control panels for whole-home lighting control
  • (15) Recessed roller shades concealed within custom pocket details
  • Layered lighting scenes programmed throughout interior and exterior spaces
  • Integrated control of landscape and pool lighting

Comfort & Environmental Control

  • (7) HVAC zones with remote thermostat relocation and local temperature sensing
  • Occupancy-based automation to reduce redundancy and enhance efficiency
  • Electrochromic privacy glass integration in primary suite

Security & Life Safety

  • Integrated security system
  • Unified life-safety event response within control platform

Specialty Integration

  • Car visor control of full aircraft-hangar-style garage door
  • Centralized automation platform unifying lighting, shading, HVAC, security, and specialty systems

The Invisible Layer – Working With The Vision

In a home this considered, technology cannot be an afterthought. Integration required early coordination and disciplined detailing. Decisions about shade pockets, thermostat placement, and infrastructure pathways were made long before walls were closed. The goal was simple: technology that enhances the experience of the home without drawing attention to itself.

Light as Architecture

A centralized whole-home lighting and shading system anchors the strategy, powered by three dedicated control panels managing every layer of illumination.

Fifteen recessed roller shades disappear into precisely crafted pockets, field-customized to maintain uninterrupted views of the surrounding forest. When raised, they vanish entirely. When lowered, they temper sunlight without disrupting the architecture’s clean lines.

Lighting scenes were programmed to respond to time of day and mood, enhancing the verticality of the gabled ceilings and emphasizing material textures throughout the interior. Occupancy sensors eliminate redundancy and simplify the user experience, maintaining the home’s minimalist ethos by reducing wall clutter and visible controls.

Exterior landscape and pool lighting systems are also unified within the platform, creating a seamless transition from interior glow to wooded darkness.

Control Without Clutter

In a home defined by restraint, visible switches and thermostats required reconsideration. Seven HVAC zones were programmed with remote temperature sensing, relocating controls away from primary sightlines while preserving precision comfort.

A centralized control platform coordinates lighting, shading, climate, security, and life-safety into one cohesive system. Event-based programming enables the home to respond intelligently, linking security triggers, lighting adjustments, and environmental controls in real time to enhance safety and awareness.

Specialty integrations, including electrochromic privacy glass in the primary suite and control of an aircraft-hangar-style garage door, are incorporated into the same interface, ensuring even complex operations remain intuitive and unobtrusive.

Sound Without Presence

Audio was approached with equal discipline. Invisible speakers integrate into ceilings and architectural planes, delivering immersive sound while remaining unseen. Equipment is centralized and precisely organized for longevity and serviceability without intruding on living spaces.

Music moves through the home as naturally as light, present but never dominant.

Engineered for Resilience

Given the history of the property, infrastructure was engineered with intention and redundancy. Electrical distribution, centralized lighting panels, structured wiring, and organized rack systems were executed with deliberate precision. Every circuit, every pathway, every connection was planned for safety, performance, and longevity.

This is not simply integration; it is infrastructure built for trust and peace of mind.