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SoCal House of the Future Comes Equipped With a Drone Helipad

When it was built in 1959, the Southern California house known as Starview was considered the house of the future. The midcentury exhibition home built by architect Jacob Tracht was considered a masterpiece of futuristic design.

These days, the Starview is still a masterpiece of futuristic design thanks to the efforts of Rick Perkins of Perkins Development Group.

The developer purchased the property in 2016 for $2,270,000 and transformed it into the home of the future … for today’s age. His dramatic renovation also comes with a distinctly 2018 price tag of $12 million.

We attended Starview’s launch party to see what went into this multimillion-dollar project

“The Starview has always been a dream for me,” Perkins said. “I wanted to find a home with a steep history of forward thinking and reimagine it. My team and I were able to transform it into a show palace of luxury, decadence, and environmental responsibility.”

How does going green mesh with decadence? Well, the home is able to function off the electrical grid, thanks to a series of solar panels on the roof that draw in energy and store it in Tesla batteries.

Though visionary the power system may be, it’s not the sexiest feature of the home.

That honor goes to the passenger drone helipad. You read that right. There’s a landing area for a passenger drone helicopter, which falls in line with a home for the future.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept (which we were), the drone provided by SureFly is an octocopter (four arms, eight rotors) with an advanced autopilot system. In other words, the thing flies itself.

It’s as quiet as a car, and the rotors won’t ruin your ‘do. It features a two-hour flight time battery, can carry 552 pounds, and has an emergency ballistic parachute. It’s as close as we’ve come to a flying car and looks like the perfect vehicle of the future. However, the FAA hasn’t approved the drone yet and it’s illegal to land a helicopter in this tony neighborhood.

Perkins believes the rules will change over the next couple of years. He’s prepared for cities to accommodate anticipated services, including Amazon drone delivery and Uber’s proposed aircraft on-demand project, Elevate.

Even if you don’t want to shell out $200,000 for a SureFly of your own, the developer thinks you’ll be able to summon an Uber aircraft to land in your backyard someday. Perkins himself is on the SureFly waiting list, ready to enjoy a 9-minute commute from his work in Brentwood to his home in Burbank.

The rest of the house of the future is equally stylish and extremely livable.

Perkins expanded the interior living space from 4,517 square feet to 8,059. He added a third-floor master suite on top, and an entire lower level below the original home. With the home situated on the side of a hill, all the additions have the same spectacular views of the city, ocean, and iconic Getty Center.

The home now has six en suite bedrooms and 7.5 well-appointed bathrooms. Two of those bedrooms are master suites, both with walk-in closets measuring approximately 250 square feet.

There’s a main-floor great room with an open, modern kitchen featuring an enormous island. We also loved the open-air atrium on the main floor.

The new downstairs level features a game room, media room, gallery, and gym with bathroom featuring an infrared light sauna.

The attached three-car garage now features a car-lift, so you can store your fanciest wheels underground—away from prying eyes.

Perkins also rebuilt the pool and gave it a Baja shelf. The outdoor decks offer plenty of room to entertain, and the helipad doubles as a viewing deck when no drone is perched there.

Naturally, this home of the future is fully automated, allowing the homeowner to control the lights, audio, room temperature, doors, and a 28-foot glass wall that opens up the main living area to the pool deck with an iPad.

“Whomever purchases this home will be light-years ahead in terms of home technology and off-the-grid sensibilities,” says Perkins.

Listing broker Billy Rose, founder and president of The Agency, agrees.

“Rick Perkins and his team have created the home of the future with their Starview masterpiece,” Rose says. “This property is arguably one of the most exciting new homes developed in Los Angeles.”

After sitting in the SureFly and the sauna, enjoying the views, watching that car-lift in action, and enjoying all the lights and music powered by the Tesla batteries, we have to admit he has a point.

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