Bay Drive Mansion, Pompano Beach
A traditional oceanfront mansion within sight of the Hillsboro Inlet lighthouse, where the sun was the problem: every window motorized with Phifer SheerWeave blackouts on Somfy, one bedroom in classic drapery panels under a valance, and the whole house on Control4 keypads.
The lighthouse window
A minute through the house: the picture window on the Hillsboro Inlet lighthouse, the master bedroom bay window, the arched window wall and the French doors to the terrace, every shade on Somfy.
Designer, builder, or integrator? Download the two-page case study (PDF) →
Every window, against the sun
An oceanfront mansion on Bay Drive in Pompano Beach, looking across the Hillsboro Inlet at the lighthouse, and about as far from the modern glass box as a South Florida house gets: arched windows, curved bay windows, coffered ceilings, columns, valances and patterned drapery. That shaped everything. Motorized shades usually go into contemporary rooms; here they had to disappear into traditional ones, and every fabric, colour and mounting detail went back and forth between the owner, the owner's designer and us before it was settled.
The brief was the sun. The owner had a serious glare and heat problem through the whole house, and rather than treat a few rooms he decided to motorize every window. The fabrics are Phifer SheerWeave blackouts, opaque and woven 118 inches wide: 7700R in TB2 Sand through the living areas and 7400 in U82 Sesame in the bedrooms. Most of the shades run on Somfy's battery motors, Sonesse ULTRA 30 WireFree RTS Li-ion and Roll Up 28 WireFree RTS, chosen window by window. The home theater got a wired Sonesse 30 RTS 24 V DC. The windows nobody can reach, where no wiring had been prepared, carry a Somfy WireFree Li-ion solar panel on the glass that keeps the battery topped up. And in the family room the window wall runs as one line: several shades coupled to a single Sonesse ULTRA 50 RTS 120 V, Somfy's ultra-quiet AC motor, so the row moves together.
Control is where the house is modern. Every shade is on Somfy RTS, and a Somfy URTSI II interface hands the whole system to the house's Control4 processor - a keypad on every wall, and the shades from the owner's phone when he is away - with a Telis 16 RTS and Situo 5 RTS remotes for the rooms in hand. One bedroom kept the classic treatment: drapery panels under a shaped valance in Kravet Design 34697-521, a blue, tan and cream woven check, sewn in our Fort Lauderdale workroom over their own motorized blackout. After all the back and forth, install day was quiet: every shade fit its opening exactly, first time.
Project at a glance
Location
Private residence · Bay Drive, Pompano Beach, FL - an oceanfront mansion by the Hillsboro Inlet, traditional in style: arched windows, curved bay windows, columns, coffered ceilings and valances.
The brief
Serious sun, glare and heat through the whole house. The owner chose to motorize every window, with fabric, colour and detail settled room by room with the owner's designer.
Fabrics
Phifer SheerWeave 7700R blackout in TB2 Sand through the living areas; SheerWeave 7400 blackout in U82 Sesame in the bedrooms. Both opaque, Tv 0, both 118 inches wide.
Motors
Somfy Sonesse ULTRA 30 WireFree RTS Li-ion and Roll Up 28 WireFree RTS battery motors on most windows; a wired Sonesse 30 RTS 24 V DC in the home theater; several shades coupled on one Sonesse ULTRA 50 RTS 120 V in the family room.
Power where nobody can reach
Somfy WireFree Li-ion solar panel kits on the windows with no wiring prepared - the panel sits on the glass behind the shade and keeps the battery charged.
Control
Telis 16 RTS and Situo 5 RTS remotes in hand, and a Somfy URTSI II that puts every shade on the house's Control4 system - a keypad on every wall, and the app when the owner is away.
Drapery
One bedroom in classic drapery panels under a shaped valance, in Kravet Design 34697-521 - a blue, tan and cream woven check with a Crypton Home finish - sewn in our own Fort Lauderdale workroom and hung over its own motorized blackout.
Delivery
A long back and forth with the owner and the designer, then one install by our own team: every shade fit its opening exactly, first time, and the system programmed and handed to the Control4 integrator.
Fabric schedule
Phifer · SheerWeave 7700R TB2 Sand - Living Areas
Phifer · SheerWeave 7400 U82 Sesame - Bedrooms
Kravet Design · 34697-521 - Master Bedroom Drapery
Tap a fabric for its full specification - each links to its page in our Phifer library.
Phifer · SheerWeave 7700R TB2 Sand - Living Areas
| House | Phifer · SheerWeave 7000 series |
| Style · Colour | 7700R · TB2 Sand |
| Type | Blackout roller shade fabric - the back is coloured to match the face |
| Openness | Opaque · Tv 0 |
| Composition | 100% polyester with an acrylic foamed backing · 13.6 oz per sq yd · 0.028 in |
| Solar | Rs 57% · As 43% · SHGC 0.31 single glazing, 0.23 insulated |
| Width | 118 in · not railroaded |
| Listings | California Technical Bulletin 117 · GREENGUARD Gold · RoHS · REACH · ANSI/WCMA A100.1 |
| In this project | Living areas - the arched window wall, the family room, the breakfast nook, the dining room |
| More | Our SheerWeave 7700R page · 7700R at Phifer |
Phifer · SheerWeave 7400 U82 Sesame - Bedrooms
| House | Phifer · SheerWeave 7000 series |
| Style · Colour | 7400 · U82 Sesame |
| Type | Blackout roller shade fabric |
| Openness | Opaque · Tv 0 · solar reflectance 64% |
| Composition | 45% polyester, 55% acrylic foamed backing · 12.8 oz per sq yd · 0.028 in |
| Width | 118 in · not railroaded |
| Listings | California Title 19 · NFPA 701 TM#1 and TM#2 · CAN/ULC-S 109 · CAN/CGSB 2-4.162-M80 · GREENGUARD Gold · RoHS · REACH |
| In this project | The bedrooms, including behind the drapery panels and valance in the master bedroom |
| More | Our SheerWeave 7400 page · 7400 at Phifer |
Kravet Design · 34697-521 - Master Bedroom Drapery
| House | Kravet Design · Crypton Home performance fabrics |
| Pattern · Colour | 34697 · 521 |
| Type | Woven check in blue, tan and cream, upholstery weight, sewn here as drapery panels and a shaped valance |
| Width | 56 in · approx. 142 cm |
| Repeat | 4.375 in vertical · 4.688 in horizontal |
| Composition | 75% rayon, 25% polyester · acrylic backed · Crypton Home finish |
| Performance | 57,000 double rubs · W cleaning code · made in the USA |
| In this project | The master bedroom drapery panels and valance, hung over the motorized SheerWeave 7400 Sesame blackout |
| Supplier | 34697-521 at Kravet |
Through the house
The Lighthouse Window
The Bay Window Sitting Area
The Arched Window Wall
Sand Blackouts, Halfway
French Doors to the Terrace
The Breakfast Nook
The components on this project
Somfy Sonesse ULTRA 30 WireFree RTS Li-ion
The battery motor on most of the house
Somfy's current quiet battery motor for roller shades, with the rechargeable lithium-ion pack built into the tube. It carries the SheerWeave blackouts here alongside the Roll Up 28 - no wiring through the plaster of a finished traditional house, and an LED on the motor says when the battery is getting low.
| Type | Rechargeable Li-ion tube motor for roller shades |
| Radio | Somfy RTS, 433.42 MHz - Telis 16, Situo 5, URTSI II |
| Sound | The quiet end of Somfy's Sonesse range |
| Charging | In place with the Somfy charger, or by a WireFree Li-ion solar panel on the windows nobody can reach |
| In this project | The roller shades through the living areas and bedrooms, alongside the Roll Up 28 |
Somfy Roll Up 28 WireFree RTS
The compact battery motor
Somfy's slimmer WireFree motor, with the same rechargeable lithium-ion battery and the same RTS radio in a 28 mm tube, used across the house alongside the Sonesse ULTRA 30. Same remotes, same keypads, same solar charging where needed.
| Type | Rechargeable Li-ion tube motor, 28 mm, for roller shades |
| Radio | Somfy RTS, 433.42 MHz - up to 12 channels, 656 ft open-field range |
| Sound | 54 dB |
| Charging | Removable charging cable, compatible with the Somfy WireFree solar panel |
| Favourite | The MY position saves a preferred stop |
| In this project | Roller shades through the house, alongside the Sonesse ULTRA 30 |
Somfy WireFree Li-ion Solar Panel Kit
Power for the windows nobody can reach
No wiring had been prepared at several of the high openings, and no one wants to bring a ladder into a finished room to plug in a charger. A slim Somfy solar panel sits on the glass behind each of those shades and tops up the battery every day.
| Type | Solar charger for Somfy WireFree Li-ion battery motors |
| Mounting | Glass-mount adhesive and brackets, no electrician |
| Profile | Slim panel that hides behind the shade |
| Works with | Sonesse ULTRA 30 WireFree, Roll Up 28 WireFree and the other Somfy Li-ion motors |
| In this project | The windows with no wiring and no reach |
Somfy Sonesse 30 RTS 24 V DC
The wired motor in the home theater
Where a low-voltage wire could be run, the wired version of the same motor: 24 V DC into a thin round head, no battery to think about, and the soft start and soft stop that protect the fabric. It drives the blackout in the home theater.
| Type | 24 V DC tube motor for roller shades |
| Power | 24 V DC, 15 W running, 0.2 W standby - low-voltage wiring out of sight |
| Sound | 47 dB |
| Radio | Somfy RTS, 433.42 MHz - up to 12 channels |
| In this project | The home theater blackout |
Somfy Sonesse ULTRA 50 RTS 120 V
One motor, several shades, in the family room
The family room window wall runs as one line: several shades coupled to a single Sonesse ULTRA 50, Somfy's ultra-quiet AC motor, so the row rises and lowers together with one command and one 120 V circuit.
| Type | 120 V AC tube motor for roller shades, coupled |
| Sound | Ultra-quiet - 38 dB |
| Torque | High torque, rated by Somfy to power up to six shades on one motor |
| Radio | Somfy RTS, 433.42 MHz |
| In this project | The coupled shades on the family room window wall |
Somfy Telis 16 RTS
The whole-house remote
A handheld remote with a screen that names each of its sixteen channels, so one remote reaches every room in the house without opening an app.
| Channels | 16, with an on-screen display |
| Radio | Somfy RTS, 433.42 MHz |
| Power | 2 AAA batteries |
| In this project | The whole-house remote, alongside the Control4 keypads |
Somfy Situo 5 RTS
The room remotes
The slim five-channel remote that lives in a room: one channel per shade or group, and a MY button that sends a shade to its favourite position.
| Channels | 5 |
| Favourite | MY position |
| Radio | Omni-directional Somfy RTS, 433.42 MHz - no aiming |
| In this project | Room remotes for the shades in hand |
Somfy URTSI II and Control4
The bridge to the house system
Somfy's Universal RTS Interface II takes commands from the Control4 processor over RS-232 or RS-485 and sends them to every RTS motor in the house. It is why there is a shade button on the keypad in every room, and why the owner can lower the whole house from his phone when he is not there.
| Type | Somfy Universal RTS Interface II, 16 channels |
| Interfaces | RS-232, RS-485 and IR |
| Capacity | 16 RTS channels per unit, up to 16 units for 256 channels |
| Works with | All Somfy RTS motors and receivers |
| In this project | Control4 keypads on every wall, app control away from home |
Frequently asked
Can motorized shades work in a traditional house?
Yes, and this one is the proof. Arched windows, curved bay windows, columns, valances and patterned drapery - the shades had to disappear into all of it. The roller sits above the glass, the fabric colour was chosen with the owner's designer to sit quietly in each room, and in the bedroom the classic drapery panels and valance hang in front of their own motorized blackout. More on motorized shades.
Why blackout fabric on every window?
The owner's problem was the sun - glare and heat through the whole house, all day. Phifer SheerWeave 7700R and 7400 are opaque blackouts, Tv 0, so a closed shade stops the light completely, and the 7700R's back is coloured to match its face, so the shade looks finished from outside as well. Open, the view of the inlet and the lighthouse is untouched. Phifer blackout fabrics.
How do Somfy shades work with Control4?
Every shade on this project runs on Somfy RTS radio. A Somfy URTSI II interface takes commands from the Control4 processor over RS-232 or RS-485 and sends them to the motors - 16 RTS channels per interface, and up to 16 interfaces in one system. That is what puts a shade button on the keypad in every room and lets the owner move the shades from the Control4 app when he is away. Shades on Control4.
What about windows you cannot reach to recharge a battery?
Where no wiring had been prepared and nobody could bring a charger up, each Somfy WireFree motor carries a Somfy WireFree Li-ion solar panel on the glass that keeps its battery charged. Where power was available, we went wired: a Sonesse 30 RTS 24 V DC in the home theater, and a Sonesse ULTRA 50 RTS on 120 V driving several coupled shades in the family room. Battery and solar shades.
Do you work in Pompano Beach and Hillsboro Beach?
Yes - we measure, fabricate and install across Pompano Beach, Hillsboro Beach, Lighthouse Point and Deerfield Beach, with drapery sewn in our own Fort Lauderdale workroom and installed by our own crew. Talk to us.
A house that is not a glass box, and a sun problem anyway?
One free hour with our team routinely saves owners thousands in avoidable mistakes - wrong fabrics, bad mounts, missed motorization. Book a private, complimentary consultation - we bring the fabrics, the samples, and honest answers. Start with the free guide: the 5 costly mistakes.