Yellow Brick Home leverages connected devices like smart thermostats, water shutoffs, and Wi-Fi locks to run its Southwest Michigan ‘Tree House’ Airbnb remotely, ensuring high guest satisfaction and protecting the property from seasonal challenges.
Yellow Brick Home says it has spent the past several years refining how it runs its Southwest Michigan “Tree House” Airbnb from Chicago, where the owners live about 90 miles away. The property has now entered its seventh rental season, and the site says the home has kept its Superhost and Guest Favorite status while holding a 4.99 overall rating for years. That kind of consistency, the owners argue, depends on a mix of local help and connected devices that let them monitor the house from a distance.
At the centre of the setup is a smart thermostat. Yellow Brick Home says it uses a Nest system to keep the house within a narrow temperature range when no one is there, a useful safeguard in Michigan, where seasonal swings can be dramatic. Smart thermostat guides from Rental Home Automator likewise point to remote temperature control, energy savings and guest comfort as the main reasons hosts invest in the technology. The owners also say the thermostat alerts them if temperatures fall too far, which can help flag a power failure before pipes or plants are harmed.
Water protection has been another priority. Yellow Brick Home says it installed a Flo by Moen shutoff and monitor after dealing with frozen pipes, alongside crawlspace sealing, insulation and heat tape on the main water line. The company says the device tracks water use, warns of unusual activity and lets the owners turn the supply on or off from their phones. Rental Home Automator’s coverage of smart shutoff valves makes the same case for short-term rentals, describing them as a practical defence against expensive water damage when a property sits empty.
A front-door camera also gives the owners a live view of the property. They use it to track deliveries, assess weather conditions before arrival and keep an eye on the woods around the house, where animals sometimes wander through. That same sort of remote oversight is frequently recommended in Airbnb tech round-ups, which note that cameras can support both security and basic logistics, provided hosts follow local rules and guest privacy requirements.
The home’s internet setup is designed to keep everything else running. Yellow Brick Home says an eero mesh network helps provide steady Wi-Fi across the property and can be checked or restarted remotely if storms or falling branches disrupt service. That matters not only for the owners, but also for guests who expect reliable internet for work and streaming. The site says a strong connection has become a selling point in its own right.
The final piece is the smartest one in purely practical terms: a Wi-Fi deadbolt. Yellow Brick Home says it uses a Schlage keypad lock to issue temporary entry codes for each stay, with separate access for cleaners, relatives and contractors. Smart-lock reviews for Airbnb hosts consistently rank keyless entry among the most useful upgrades because it removes the risk of lost keys and simplifies turnover. The owners add one caution of their own: keep a physical backup key somewhere safe, because batteries do fail.
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