Service area
Smart Home and Private AI Installation in Los Angeles and Malibu
Kotoh Home installs private AI home assistants and smart home systems in Los Angeles and Malibu, set up for wildfire season, planned power shutoffs and the days you can't get back to the house.
Fire season shapes the house
Malibu stretches about 21 miles along the Pacific, with Pacific Coast Highway running its length and the Santa Monica Mountains rising behind it. That landscape is why fire is the defining risk. The Woolsey Fire in 2018 destroyed 1,643 structures, including hundreds of houses in Malibu on both sides of PCH, and forced the evacuation of more than 295,000 people. In January 2025, the Palisades Fire, driven by Santa Ana winds, destroyed 6,837 structures across Pacific Palisades, Topanga and Malibu.
The power grid is part of the same story. California utilities, including Southern California Edison, use Public Safety Power Shutoffs, cutting power ahead of high winds to reduce the risk of their lines starting a fire. In 2019, shutoffs across the state left more than 3 million people without utility power at their peak. And more than a third of California's housing now sits in the wildland-urban interface, where homes meet fire-prone land.
What we set up for Los Angeles and Malibu homes
- Power-shutoff awareness. The hub and network on battery backup, an alert when the power drops and when it returns, and whether your generator or home battery took over.
- An evacuation routine you approve in advance: motorized windows and shades closed, HVAC set so it isn't pulling in smoke, doors locked, gate behavior set, and a checklist of what still needs doing by hand. It supports official instructions; it never replaces them.
- Smoke, CO and temperature alerts from compatible detectors and sensors, sent to you and anyone else you choose.
- Air quality and filtration. On smoky days, the assistant can switch air purifiers and HVAC to recirculate and tell you what indoor air looks like.
- A clear picture after you leave. As long as it has power and a connection, it reports the house's status, and it sends a summary once it's back online after an outage.
Battery backup and network design are part of our network and security work.
Houses you're not always in
If you keep more than one home, or spend long stretches away, the assistant's away mode watches leaks, temperature, power and doors and stays quiet unless something needs attention. For multiple properties or household staff, see Estate projects; for a home you visit part of the year, second-home monitoring.
How a travel install works
Kotoh Home is based on the East End of Long Island and in Miami. We don't keep an office in Los Angeles; we come to you. It works in three steps:
- Video walk-through. A free call where you show us the house, the network closet and the devices you already have. We agree what the assistant should handle and give you a fixed price.
- Install day. We fly in, set up the hub and your private AI, secure the network, connect your accounts and devices, and show everyone in the household how to text it.
- Care from a distance. Updates, monitoring and new routines happen remotely under your care plan. If something ever needs hands on site, we quote the trip first.
Travel is billed at cost and quoted with the project, so there are no surprises on the invoice.
Private by design
Every install puts a smart-home hub in your home that runs your devices and routines locally, so they keep working when the internet doesn't. With Private Home, the AI runs on a dedicated computer in the house that you own, and your household details never leave it. With Private Cloud, it runs an open-source model on a private server we operate for you in a U.S. data center, with no conversation logs kept and nothing sent to OpenAI, Google or Amazon; the AI chat pauses during an internet outage while the hub keeps the house running. Because shutoffs can take the internet down with the power, Private Home is the better fit if you want the assistant itself to keep working inside the house. Messages travel through Apple's or Meta's encrypted networks depending on the app you use, and connected accounts like email and calendars stay with their providers. More in our guide to local vs cloud AI assistants.
Getting started
Book a free video walk-through through the form or at hello@kotohhome.com. You'll get a fixed price before any work: Private Cloud from $4,995 or Private Home from $24,995, plus travel at cost. Care plans are $199 a month for Private Cloud, including your private AI server, or $399 for Private Home. We also travel to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Common questions
Do you have an office in Los Angeles?
No. Kotoh Home is based on the East End of Long Island and in Miami. For Los Angeles, Malibu and the Westside we start with a video walk-through, then fly in for install day, and travel is quoted at cost with your project.
What does the system do during a Public Safety Power Shutoff?
The hub and your network run on a battery backup, so you get an alert when the power drops and another when it returns, plus whether a standby generator or home battery took over. With Private Home, the assistant keeps working inside the house; with Private Cloud, the chat pauses until the internet is back, and an optional cellular backup keeps alerts flowing.
Can it help us evacuate faster?
It can run an evacuation routine you approved in advance, such as closing windows and shades that are motorized, turning off HVAC fresh-air intake, locking doors and opening the gate for responders if you choose, and it reads you a checklist of what still has to be done by hand. It doesn't replace official evacuation orders.
Will I know what's happening at the house after we leave?
As long as the hub has power and a connection, it reports temperature, smoke and CO alarms from compatible detectors, door status and power. After an outage, it sends a summary once it's back online.
What does it cost?
Private Cloud starts at $4,995, plus a $199-a-month care plan that includes your private AI server. Private Home, with a dedicated AI computer in the house that works fully offline, starts at $24,995, with care at $399 a month. Estate projects are quoted individually, and travel is quoted at cost.