TMO Reports - Home Builder Lennar Includes iBook, AirPort with New Houses

by , 1:55 PM EDT, May 27th, 2005

Home builder Lennar Corp. has announced a unique amenity for the houses it's building in six of the neighborhoods in the Bressi Ranch community located in Carlsbad, Calif. Every dwelling comes with a 14-inch iBook, an AirPort Base Station, AirPort Express, a three-year AppleCare support package and a 5.1 surround sound stereo tuner with speakers already installed in the dining and living rooms as well as on the back patio. New homeowners can move in, load some music in iTunes and immediately start streaming it to the stereo system.

Lennar sales manager Jennifer Bonasia told The Mac Observer: "Technology is something that's important to homeowners, and this package provides a 'wow factor' for our customers." She said that the company has sold 100 to 120 homes so far, and the homeowners' response to the included Apple package has been "tremendous."

Ms. Bonasia said that Lennar chose Macs because the company's division president uses the computers at home and often enthuses about their user-friendliness and ease of use, "which made us go with Apple." The package is included in the base prices of the homes, which start at the low US$700,000s and reach over $1 million. They're part of Lennar's "Everything in One" program, which offers various built-in amenities included in the home price.

An iBook in use in one of Lennar's Bressi Ranch homes

Lennar has also implemented an intranet for all of its homeowners in the Bressi Ranch community. It provides a direct link to Lennar if they have questions or comments, as well as a way for them to communicate with each other. Ms. Bonasia explained that the goal of Bressi Ranch is to make it "feel like a little town," and the implementation of technology is part of achieving that end.

The company purchases the iBooks and AirPort units from the Apple Store UTC in San Diego and provides a technician who delivers and sets up the package after the homeowners have moved in. "This is the first time we've done something like this," Ms. Bonasia said, "and the Apple Store has made it as easy as possible."