Dreaming of a Byte Christmas : Tours of Yorba Linda Home Where Automated : Butler Resides Give Look at What Future May Hold

As a magician, Gus Searcy hated the idea of flipping on light switches or closing curtains like a mere mortal.

“My friends would say, ‘Hey, you’re a magician. You shouldn’t have to turn lights on and off.’ They were right,” Searcy says.

So Searcy invented Butler-In-A-Box, a computerized home automation system that handles those mundane tasks for him. Now when he enters his spacious Yorba Linda home, he simply says “Godfrey, the lights,” and the lights pop on like, well, magic.

The wonders of Searcy’s automated abode can be seen this next Friday through Sunday, when his home will be decked out for Christmas and open for tours to benefit the Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention Center of Orange County.

Called “The House of Christmas Future,” the tour will give people a chance to see how automated homes of the future might look during the holidays.

Interior designers from Cottage & Castle Interiors in Anaheim Hills, the American Society of Interior Designers, Avante Gardens and the Christmas Guild will transform the 6,800-square-foot home into a futuristic wonderland.

Christmas lights will turn on and off automatically. Christmas carols, animated animals and a toy train all will be controlled by Godfrey.

“We want to maximize (the automation). That’s why we were looking for animated things that you can turn on and off, like Christmas carols and lights on trees,” says Peggy Kisielius, an interior designer with Cottage & Castle.

Rooms will reflect Christmas past, present and future. The futuristic family room will be decked out in non-traditional Christmas colors of teals and purples--”crystal ball-gazing colors,” says March Ann Beagle, manager of Cottage & Castle.

“The color scheme will be very electric,” she says.

The living room will be fit for a snow princess, with a white Christmas tree decorated with crystal ornaments, glass figurines, crystal beads, an iridescent Nativity scene and other frosty decorations.

“It’s a crystal palace theme with lots of jewels against a background of white,” says Joan Linder, a Newport Beach interior designer.

Even the laundry room will be transformed into an automated Santa’s workshop.

While the theme of the tour is the future, Searcy’s home demonstrates that the magic of automation is possible in the present.

Searcy’s butler has the dimensions of a Webster’s dictionary, but its small size is deceptive. It can operate everything that runs on electricity--a back-yard fountain, the pool cleaner, mood music, the television, the coffee maker, the one-armed bandit in the playroom--in short, about 260 household functions.

“This is probably the most automated home in the world,” says Searcy, owner of Mastervoice Inc. in Los Alamitos, which markets the automated butlers.

When Searcy tells Godfrey, “I’m home,” the butler turns on the mood lighting, opens the drapes and switches the television on to CNN.

“It controls everything on the property and understands four languages,” Searcy says. “If you can teach a human to flip a switch, it can do it too.”

“Godfrey,” he says, to demonstrate.

“Did you call?”

“TV off.”

“Right away.” Immediately the screen goes dark.

When leaving home, Searcy says “goodby” and the butler reverses the procedures, shutting off the lights and television and closing the drapes. If a coffee pot or iron is left on, those will be shut off, too.

While he’s away, Searcy can call Godfrey on the phone, push a button and turn on the air conditioner if he wants a cool home when he returns, or he can order Godfrey to start heating the Jacuzzi. If it rains and Searcy has left the garage door open, the butler shuts it. The system knows not to turn on the sprinklers in a downpour--”it’s drought-smart,” Searcy says.

Godfrey is also energy efficient. It turns off lights when a room is empty, sensing a human presence by picking up body heat on an infrared device. It opens air-conditioning vents only in areas of the house that are occupied. Searcy cut his utility bill in half after installing Godfrey.

In addition to its other duties, the butler’s infrared sensor allows it to act as a security guard. The infrared sensors go off whenever someone enters the house.

“If (the intruder) doesn’t know the password, he’s history,” Searcy says. Bells ring, lights go on, a video camera starts taking pictures and an alarm company receives a red alert.

Godfrey knows the time of day, date and seasons. From Dec. 2 to Jan. 2, it’s programmed to turn on the Christmas lights promptly at sundown.

Searcy describes the Butler-In-A-Box as artificial intelligence. It can recognize voices and can distinguish between when it’s being talked about and when it’s being talked to.

“It’s a cross between Thing in ‘The Addams Family,’ Hal in ‘2001’ and Proteus 4 in the movie ‘Demon Seed,’ ” he says.

The butler can change personalities according to its master’s whims. When he’s in the mood, Searcy programs his system to sound like Betty Boop or a sweet talker named Amanda. Some customers take delight in having the butler answer to their boss’s name. One man addresses his unit as God.

“It comes back with, ‘Yes, my son.’ ”

Searcy, a professional magician who belongs to the Magic Castle in Hollywood, has long been fascinated by how things work.

“If it moves, clinks, or blinks, I’m into it,” he says.

He worked for 14 years developing the butler, completing his invention in 1986. One butler resides in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

Searcy sells the systems through his company for about $1,500 to $4,000, depending on the size of the area to be served. About 9,000 butlers have been sold worldwide.

It takes about one hour per room to install the butler using existing house wires. Godfrey sends signals over house wiring that are picked up like Morse code by modules hooked up to the appliances. The system also is controlled directly by pushing buttons on any telephone.

Not only does Searcy’s butler act as a landscaper, pool cleaner, servant and security guard, it’s also a baby-sitter. It lulls Searcy’s infant daughter to sleep by playing soft music on the radio.

It allows his 4-year-old daughter to watch television only at certain hours of the day. If his daughter complains when the TV set in her bedroom goes off, Searcy simply shrugs and says, “The butler did it.”

Searcy’s automated home will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $15 and include admission to seminars on interior and floral design, holiday entertaining, home security and automation and landscaping. An address and map to the home will be provided when tickets are purchased.

For ticket information, call (800) 628-5837, Ext. 40.