Tamboerskloof · Heritage home — rescue
Tamboerskloof heritage home: smart home rescue and rebuild
A beautiful heritage home with a half-finished smart home: three apps that fought each other, bulbs that dropped offline, and switches that didn't suit the house. We rebuilt it on a single system that respects the interior.
The request
- “Someone sold us a smart home and it's been driving us crazy — half the bulbs don't respond, the other half are on a different app, and the switches look wrong in a 1905 house.”
- “We want it to just work — lights that come on when we walk in, a Good Night button, and no more replacing bulbs every month.”
- “It's a heritage home, so whatever we do can't look modern or plastic on the walls.”
- “Can you rescue what's there, or do we have to start over?”
How we tackled it
- Started with a full audit of what was installed, what was broken and what was worth keeping — most of the hardware was fine, the integration was the problem.
- Migrated everything onto a single Home Assistant system running locally, so it works without the internet and no longer depends on three different cloud accounts.
- Replaced the modern plastic switch plates with period-style plates over smart dimming modules, so the walls look right and the lighting is still smart.
- Kept the existing bulbs and sensors where they worked, replaced the flaky ones, and added discreet presence sensors in the hallways.
- Designed a calm set of automations around how the household actually moves, and handed over with a single wall panel and phone app.
Delivery model
Full turnkey rescue: audit, rebuild, supply and configuration by Cue Home. Existing hardware retained where possible. Electrical work by a licensed, registered electrical contractor. Fully insured.
Technology
- Home Assistant running locally — no cloud dependency
- Period-style switch plates over smart dimming modules
- Retained and replaced bulbs and sensors as needed
- Discreet hallway presence sensors
- Single wall panel and phone app
Automations
- Hallway lights gently to 20% on presence after dark
- Good Night button dims the house and arms the entry sensors
- Lights respond to sunrise and sunset, not fixed times
- Local control keeps everything working through an internet outage
Photographs
On site
Outcome
What changed
- One system, one app, one panel — the household stopped fighting their own home.
- Period-style plates on the walls mean the technology is felt, not seen.
- Bulbs stopped dropping offline — local control removed the monthly cloud fragility.
- A Good Night button and presence lighting that just work, every night.
Licensed
All electrical work by licensed, registered contractors where regulated.
Insured
Cue Home is fully insured for every engagement.
Design-only available
We can produce the plans and your builder installs — or we do it all.
Want a result like this?
Tell us the room, the problem or the idea. We'll tell you honestly what's possible and what it involves.
Keep exploring
Other projects you may like
Century City · Commercial / retail
Century City commercial block: access, retail and building networks
A mixed-use commercial block needing access control, camera coverage, common-area lighting, in-store retail operations including POS, and a resilient network backbone.
Sea Point · Apartment
Sea Point apartment: lighting, blinds and reliable Wi-Fi
A two-bedroom Atlantic Seaboard apartment where the brief was better light in the evening, blinds that handle the afternoon sun, and Wi-Fi that finally reaches the balcony.