Partnerships are wonderful. Even when they start out as a different sort of relationship. As an example, here’s the story of a partnership formed between a home builder and small technology company that began a different way.

Gary and Linda Russell (owners of LiveSmart Technologies LLC CA) were ready to build their dream home in the small town of Graeagle, CA, located one hour northwest of Reno. After talking to the neighbors and interviewing a few different builders, they chose Wesfab Construction featuring Wes Boyd as the owner. As luck would have it, Gary/Linda’s soon-to-be-neighbor (John Berg) did the architectural design and drawings. Wes provided the crew and the project began in Nov, 2018 following financing and permit approvals.

As anyone who lives up there knows, starting construction in Nov means building through the winter – which is just what Wes and his crew did. Gary, Linda, Wes and John communicated and collaborated by phone, text and email throughout. Yes there were additions and change orders, but none of them significant and they always worked it out. This was never adversarial; rather it was a partnership aligned on a common goal of the dream house. Gary/Linda and their two daughters were able to monitor the progress with cameras that LiveSmart set up during the build which helps when you are over 500 miles away from the action.

The house was completed in Oct, 2019. While some degree of thought and planning went into the smart home design during the build, much of it was installed afterwards. The home features: