Other than the new dark red siding, the little row house looks much like its century-old neighbors in the South Side Flats.

But take a look inside and you quickly realize it's much more open and a bit, well, smarter than the average home. For starters, notice the touchscreen on the living room coffee table. Poke the screen a few times and you see views from one or more of the four cameras set inside or outside the house. You can even see yourself, sitting on the modern sofa, staring back from the 42-inch plasma TV on the wall.

Brian Ripley, owner and contractor for the house at 131 13th St., clearly enjoys all the high-tech gadgetry he had Shawn Broda of Digital Magic install here. For a visitor, he cranks up the volume on the Monitor Audio Radius series 5.1 surround sound speaker system, then pops a movie into the Onkyo surround-sound receiver and high-definition DVD player. You almost get the impression he built this house for himself. But at age 35 with a wife and a couple of small kids, he says he's not the ideal owner for such a smart house in happening South Side. So he has put it on the market for $279,000 through Coldwell Banker Real Estate.

"The buyer probably won't have kids," said Mr. Ripley, who lives in Bethel Park.

The remote camera security system -- which allows someone to monitor camera views from any TV in the house or the Internet -- would make it easy to keep an eye on children playing in the yard or the living room. But the steel spiral stair that runs from a side patio all the way up 2 1/2 stories to the rooftop deck is definitely not kid-friendly. It's even a little scary for adults. But once you've made the climb, the payoff is a spectacular view of the Slopes behind and the Flats in front, with the Monongahela River and Downtown in the distance.

Mr. Ripley says some prospective buyers have talked about adding second-floor access to the 16- by 12-foot deck. But no one has talked of tinkering with the other modern touches he added to the rundown row house he bought for $35,000 in 2000. Most stunning is the new master suite, with a vaulted ceiling that stretches over a slate and stone tile master bath. Glass block shelters the full body-spray shower. Both the bath and bedroom contain small hidden speakers tied into the whole-house audio/video system.

On the wall of the master bedroom is another 42-inch plasma TV, just above a ventless gas fireplace with original wood mantel. A closet holds the brains of what Mr. Broda prefers to call "The Intelligent House." Its other features include a Motorola high-def CATV box, every room wired for data, telephone and CATV, and whole-house paging, phone-to-phone intercom, and door chimes.

For the real audiophile, there is an Elan digital music server that burns compact discs to an internal hard drive and downloads disc information and cover art from the Internet.

If you don't feel like watching TV on the LG plasmas in the living room or master bedroom, there's a 20-inch high-def LCD TV in the kitchen and hookups for more TVs in other rooms. You can also watch your favorite programs on the touchscreens in the living room and kitchen. Four touchpads scattered around the house also control the gadgetry.

Mr. Broda, whose South Side company is eight years old, created a similar setup for a house on Pius Street that Mr. Ripley and his father, Richard, rehabbed last year as Ripley & Sons Construction. Mr. Broda has done an even more elaborate 10-zone system "with all the bells and whistles" for his own home in Greenfield.

"Everybody wants it all," he said of most of his clients.

A top system like the one he installed in Mr. Ripley's house would cost $25,000 to $30,000 in a new or gutted house, more in an older house with intact walls. However, he said he can install a system for as little as $2,000 or $3,000. To save money, substitute touch pads for touch screens, he said, and focus on security and structured wiring rather than gee-whiz audio/video components.

Mr. Ripley said that about 25 percent of his and his father's work is on houses they plan to resell, mostly on the South Side, where his father grew up. They usually modernize the old interiors, aided by South Side architect Peter Margittai.

"But this one is all me," Mr. Ripley said, adding that his mother, Barbara, chose much of the furniture and his wife, Aimee, chose the paint colors.

The most dramatic change was the removal of a portion of the second floor, reducing the number of bedrooms from three to two and creating balconies surrounding the old central chimney. About 15 feet up, Mr. Ripley opted to leave imbedded an old stove grate in the flue opening in the brick. In that space, he installed a light and small recirculating fountain. The look is not for everyone, he admitted, but a buyer could always brick in the opening.

The balconies and a small upstairs study were floored in bamboo and have nearly invisible railings made from stainless-steel cable. A new, more open stairway has replaced the old cramped, winding stairs around the chimney. From the new stairs, you can peek into the thoroughly modern kitchen, which boasts a gas stove with griddle and stainless-steel Frigidaire appliances. Dark green granite tops the island and counters. Tiny speakers and up-lights on top of the cabinets fill the space with bright music and light. A laundry room and powder room at the back of the house bring the total number of baths to 2 1/2. A new forced-air heat/AC system is in the basement.

Mr. Ripley says his intelligent row house has drawn more attention on the Internet than foot traffic. He hopes to remedy that with an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. tomorrow.

"It's like a new house in the South Side, which is the place to be right now. For the right person, it would be a great place to live," he said.

For information on 131 13th St., South Side, call Michael Powers of Coldwell Banker at 412-654-8634, or go to MLS. No. 718154, www.pittsburghmoves. com. Digital Magic can be reached at www.digitalmagicltd.com or 412-390-1994.