Four Floors of Gadgets and Gardens in Chicago

If Tyler and Danielle Lenczuk’s remodeled town house has a heart, it’s the multilevel back deck, where the young couple love to grill with friends and family in classic Chicago style. If it has a brain, however, it’s the stack of black boxes lurking behind a closet door in the basement. That’s the control tower for a home automation system that empowers the Lenczuks to adjust everything from heating and lighting to window blinds, music, TVs, and security with a few taps on their iPads. Adding it was one of the many ways architects Jeffrey Day and E. B. Min transformed a nondescript spec house into an urban enclave tailored to their clients’ personalities—although doing so required a few trade-offs.