For a cool $6.9 million, you can buy the Back Bay's first ``smart house,'' a modern-day Marlborough Street mansion that will do the thinking for you at home while you slave at the office.
In an increasingly competitive market, local builder New Boston Ventures is embracing high-tech home gizmos to gain an edge as a flood of multimillion-dollar condos and homes hits the market in Boston's pricier neighborhoods.
Hardwood floors and stainless-steel appliances are old news, New Boston principal David Goldman said.
Still, New Boston, which has done extensive, upscale condo development, is hedging its bets.
The firm is also laying plans to divide the big Back Bay spread into two oversized ``smart'' townhouses should a single buyer not surface with nearly $7 million to spend.
``The technology that we saw in the Jetsons is finally becoming a reality,'' said Goldman.
The house combines the latest in Internet connections -- both wire-based and wireless -- with a souped-up home security system with a range of remote control possibilities.
Too busy to check on whether the kids have come home from school?
Your new smart house will e-mail you when your kids walk through the door.
Scared the heat will shut down while you are off on that winter getaway weekend?
Your friendly smart house will e-mail -- or call you on the phone -- if there is a problem, Goldman said.
Or how about that nightmare rush hour when you find yourself stuck in traffic with dinner guests on the way?
The smart house technology is created by Home Automation Inc., which layered several new features atop a highly advanced home security system.
A core group of smart house features comes with the house -- others have to be added on to the basic network, at a likely cost of several hundred to a few thousand dollars extra.