The Ian Poulter Home, Lake Nona, Florida

Ian Poulter is a perfectionist.

Anyone who plays golf knows how tough it can be to play consistently, to balance the physical and the mental game, to make shot after shot in the high-pressure environment of a tournament.

Yet Poulter was able to rise from a working class background to fifth-ranked player in the world, then to sustain his PGA and European Tour status for more than 20 years.

His drive to be the best extends to his businesses, his cars, and even to his home at Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida, where, in 2013, he personally supervised the building of a beautiful 10,000 square foot residence.

Recently that drive to perfection led him to enlist Think Simple in a nearly-complete upgrade of the home’s technology, including its audio, video, network, lighting, shading, climate and security-control systems. It was one of the first projects the company did using new Crestron Home technology, and it is still the largest to use that platform.

Crestron Home

“Ian is not only a great customer but a friend,” says Will Gilbert, partner at Think Simple. They first worked together on Poulter’s condo at Albany, Bahamas, where Think Simple installed a smart home system using Crestron technology and the Bodhi building management platform.

“We worked very well together, so when Ian needed help with his Corporate House project, he asked us to get involved.”

While that project was still under way, Poulter began remodeling his main residence, and Gilbert suggested it might be a good time to change to Crestron’s latest platform. “Crestron Home is a huge step forward in that your custom system can be upgraded continuously, gaining new features and capabilities as Crestron adds them to the software,” he explains. “A lot of integrators will tell you Crestron Home is only good for small spaces, but actually, it’s an outstanding choice for even a large, complex project like this one.”

Think Simple started their work in 2019, during the introduction of Home. “We had to work closely with Crestron on some components they were still finalizing, but Ian understood the advantages of the platform and was willing to put up with a few growing pains.”

Among the upgrades at the home:

• Simplification of the control and automation systems using the Crestron Home platform
• A change to Crestron NVX switching, which could take advantage of Cat6 cabling already installed in the home. Now NVX can send Poulter’s extensive video collection and other video sources to 32 different TVs and projectors inside and outside the home
• A change to the latest Crestron Sonnex and Essence speakers and components to upgrade the whole-house and outdoor audio system
• Full Crestron landscape lighting
• Swapping out 110 shade rollers to quieter and more reliable Crestron shades
• An upgrade to Crestron Horizon keypads for the lighting control system
• A major upgrade of Poulter’s professional golf simulator to a fully custom system

The golf simulator

One of the drivers of Poulter’s long and successful career is a disciplined practice regimen, including daily work in his home fitness center and on the professional golf simulators installed in a bay of his garage.

“Ian has always been very driven and very detail-orientated, so he wanted every possible advantage from his practice studio,” Gilbert explains. “In taking on this project, we combined the features of five leading simulator products: the Trackman Virtual Golf 2 driving and fairway simulator; the Swing Catalyst video and pressure plate analyzer; the TrackMan radar ball tracker; the Zen Green Stage putting simulator; and the PuttView visualization/training tool.”

In doing so, Think Simple gave Poulter a practice tool that no other professional golfer can match. “Ian loves it,” Gilbert says.

Read about Poulter’s golf simulator.

The living areas 

Because Ian was closely involved in choosing the technology Think Simple installed, the Poulter home is unusually well used. Whether family members are working hard, playing hard, or just chilling with a movie, they use their new technology constantly. Learn about the living areas.

The home theater

The theater in the Poulter home is a centerpiece for many family activities, including playing video games and watching sports and movies. Its professional cinema projector and Crestron surround sound make it ideal for entertaining as well. Learn about the Poulter home theater.

A Corporate House

Think Simple’s work for Ian Poulter includes his unique Corporate House, built as a showroom for his Ferrari collection, a place to hold corporate and charity events, and a home for his personal office and conference facilities. Learn about Ian Poulter’s Corporate House.

The golf simulator – The living areas – The theater – Corporate House