High End - High Tech
Was our tagline/motto for Project Alcove. If you couldn’t already tell we are uber nerds. We love all kinds of tech, from TVs to Cameras, to kitchen gadgets - one thing we considered doing (and even started) was reviewing various technical devices.
The idea behind Project Alcove that made it different than a regular short-term rental was that we were going to outfit it with all the latest and greatest technologies. From smart home assistants and lighting, to the biggest and best TVs and gaming systems, graphics cards, productivity monitors - anything and everything we would want in our home - we were going to feature in the Rental Cabin.
Renters - or “clients” would be able to stay in the Cabin(s) and experience all the devices and furnishings to help them decide what to include in their own homes - or rentals. Eventually we were going to shy away from renting the cabins out and instead make them “Demo” or Model homes to show off not only the latest tech but our own proprietary systems and inventions.
Big Bear Lake is the perfect place to develop a project like this as most of the homes are also rentals - but, why limit ourselves to one place? What if there were a way to expand to a wider audience? Oh - yes, there is this thing called the internet! That’s where our actual specializations were - Erick is an app developer and I’m the designer/social/digital media guy.
Our original goal wasn’t to rent either cabin out but to develop them into model homes as the basis for an online business. Focusing on the rental specifically was only to get us stable enough to pay the mortgages and enable us to re-focus on the digital side of things.
That’s when things got complicated, we burned ourselves out. We had to accept that the rental business, as passionate as we were when we started - it was really only a means to and end. What end?
