(Photo by Mark Brodie - KJZZ)

HGTV's 2017 Smart Home in north Scottsdale.

Last week, I went to an open house of sorts. The place was in north Scottsdale, three bedroom, three and a half baths, 3,300 square feet, gated community, mountain views. And, it has a kind of nerve center.

This house isn’t actually for sale; there weren’t any realtors at the open house.

But, later this year, someone will win it.

The house was designed and built for HGTV — it’s the network’s 2017 Smart Home. This is the fifth such place the network has built and given away in a contest — previous ones have been in Raleigh, Austin, Nashville, and Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

Scott Branscom is lead manager for HGTV’s Smart Home 2017.

"The way smart living is changing and evolving, really what we try to do — any smart home you’re gonna have a smart hub, something that can control just about everything," Branscom said.

And, Branscom means just about everything.

To give you a picture of some of the technology in this house — there’s a touch screen on the wall next to the toilet in the master bedroom, with different flushing options, buttons to lift or close the seat and play music, among other things. You can also control everything from the lights to the sound system to the TVs, heat and AC and garage doors from the palm of your hand.

"Technology today is pretty much a staple in these houses, and it’s just ever-changing and growing, and it being so intuitive, it becomes pretty simplistic," said Jim Audiss of Eagle Luxury Properties in Scottsdale. His firm built the house.

And Mark Candelaria of Scottsdale-based Candelaria Design Associates is the house's architect.

If you’re interested in winning the 2017 HGTV Smart Home, you can enter starting on April 12 through June 2.