The Delicate Art of Making a 1907 House Smarter

Jordan MichelmanGearAug 3, 2026 6:09 AMI’m Turning My 1907 House Into a Smart Home—Without Ruining ItSmart locks, automated lighting, a robot litter box, and other modern upgrades that don’t completely destroy the old-house charm.Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Getty Images; ZoiinetCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyAt the very end of 2025, my wife and I bought our first home, a 1907 Craftsman in the heart of Portland, Oregon. It’s a beautiful old house, listed on the National Historic Registry, and is largely unchanged from the day it was built. This is exactly what we dreamed of in a house. It’s loaded with history and vibes, mostly unmessed with across the decades. We’re now simultaneously updating and restoring the home with a limited budget, big ideas, our own style, and plenty of sweat equity.The place we moved into was the level opposite of a “smart home”—and figuring out thoughtful ways to integrate modern technology into this old house without sacrificing aesthetics or ruining the vibe is the guiding principle.We’re only getting started, but after a busy six months of learning, researching, and working cutting-edge technology into a house from the Roosevelt administration (Teddy, not FDR), I’ve kept a running log of the tech choices we’ve made along the way. Today, our house is starting to feel simultaneously old and new, which is very much the goal. It’s a lot of work, but I assure you it’s also a wonderful time.Love WIRED? Add us as a preferred source on Google to see more of us.A Smart ThermostatPhotograph: Jordan MichelmanSave to wishlistSave to wishlistEcobeeSmart Thermostat Enhanced$200 $188 (6% off) Amazon$200 Ecobee$200 Home DepotReplacing the home’s heating system was a day one fix—our furnace was kicking off carbon monoxide and needed to be addressed immediately. We had a local furnace company in the basement before even moving in. But for daily use, we paired our spiffy new furnace with Ecobee’s new, midrange Ecobee Enhanced smart thermostat, which has a larger touchscreen than the basic Essential model and built-in radar for motion detection.In making this choice, I consulted WIRED’s in-depth review of the Ecobee, which prioritizes the unit’s ease of setup and intuitive interface—this made a strong case for selecting the Ecobee over other similar smart thermostats, like the Google Nest, which lacks the Ecobee’s presence sensors.The Ecobee gives us a monthly recap of our furnace usage and the average temperature in our home; walking into a low home-energy-score environment in a home that lacks insulation and gets drafty, having this monthly recap has been helpful already. Many states have a smart thermostat rebate program through local gas and power companies, and right now we’re earning around $10 off each monthly bill for having a smart thermostat in the house.The Ecobee sits unobtrusively in our dining room; I’ve toyed with adding a vintage-leaning thermostat backing plate into the mix (Atomic Surplus makes really cool ones), though most of these are more midcentury than early 20th century. For now, a pop of digital in our old dining room doesn’t look too out of place.A Smart Air Conditioner for Older WindowsPhotograph: Matthew KorfhageCourtesy of MideaPhotograph: Matthew KorfhageChevronChevronSave to wishlistSave to wishlistMideaU-Shaped Air Conditioner$400 Amazon (8,000 BTU)$510 Amazon (12,000 BTU)Installing a proper whole-home air conditioning system into our home—which had never been done before—proved dauntingly cost-prohibitive as a day one update. And so instead we’ve opted to go with a couple of these excellent smart units from Midea, whose products install into any standard-sized window and simultaneously cool, dehumidify, and ventilate.These are perfect for the two working bedrooms in our home: They are whisper-quiet because the condenser part of the unit is actually outside, and the unit’s U-shaped design makes it so you only have to have your window o