I'd still have one. You may get to the point where friends or family have a code they use- then they announce their presence with the doorbell.

That's a good point. I'll add that we have a camera at the front door and as I understand it, the Control4 system it's hooked into can send a motion detection alert. The guest would knock on the door, but the Control4 could sound a chime over the distributed speaker system and smart phones. Maybe that's good enough?

Good point. Better tell them to put in a door bell wire. Thanks for the opinions.

I am forgoing the doorbell. I'll have a gate, too. (actually 2 gates - shared road, then one to the actual house) and I am thinking about installing a gong. :D

You can always install an English doorbell - these only have a short wire from the outside button to the box just inside the front door on the baseboard. They are powered by batteries and seem to last forever.

Where on earth do you live that you need such an elaborate security system? I'd feel like I was living in a prison!

I was gonna say, "Forget the bell and get a really nice knocker," but then Janni had to go and mention a GONG!!!

Yes, it seems elaborate, but it's serving several purposes. We share an access road with a cell phone tower, so that needs to be secured. We're paving about a 1600' road that adjoins a state park, and unless we have a gate towards the road, we'll have people parking on our private road to access the park. But then, when all the folks have access to the cell tower, or to the other property that shares the access road (which has a manual farm gate right now), I don't want them necessarily entering our property. The other reason to have a gate on our part is that it will serve as the fence to contain the animals - but they will be able to roam / wander a much larger space.

And ODD - I am going to love my gong. LOL

All great ideas. We were originally going to go with a knocker, but a gong (al la Adams Family) would be funny.

@Anglophilia: We're building in a nice area in a nice subdivision, but the house itself it situated deep in the woods on a peninsula which means no line of sight neighbors. Security is there because no one from the street would be able to notice a vehicle that doesn't belong in my driveway. Our Control4 installer tells me there are a few doorbell integration solutions, so implementing something wouldn't be difficult at all.

Also, you'll have repair and maintenance people--yard crews, HVAC service techs, window washers, gutter cleaners, etc.--periodically working around the outside of your house, but within the gate, and they'll need to ring your doorbell. Could you imagine how many alerts you'd get on your phone every time a worker triggered the motion detectors? Yikes! You'd go insane. ;)

Good thinking. Specific cameras can be used to trigger the doorbell or play an announcement over the distributed audio. In this case, the front door camera is situated high and pointed down at the front of the door so there would be minimal false positives, but there's still a possibility. Still going to throw in a door bell since it's minimal work now and a pain in the butt later.

Maybe you shouldn't move to such a bad neighborhood.

Victorian Era Turnbell??? no batteries. no wiring. pretty darn loud! Installs through the door.

Ooooh, a Victorian Turnbell... a gong... Dude, I am gonna have some serious fun with the entry of my future house!!!

(Just Googled it, and for the benefit of any lurkers out there who are as crazy as I am, search for Victorian Twist Doorbells.)

Thank you, Doc, for mentioning that little piece of charming awesomeness!

Turnbell is a wonderful idea----but----how many people now will recognize what it is----and ---be able to operate it??

Of course, you can always use the camera operated intercom to instruct folks how to ring the door bell. :-)

ODD, we have had one for years and I love it. It is rather charming!

Ohmygosh y'all HAVE ONE??? Do people not know what to do with it? I just saw modern ones that say, "Twist," lol.

Yep. People figure it out after just a little bit.

we just installed a wireless doorbell, many different sounds and also you can add your own sounds. Took the awful 1980ish inside box off the wall and hid the new wireless inside box behind some pictures on desk.... So no more wiring to worry about !

Install new door bell.

You may have police, meter people, etc. Also a lot of gape openers are notorious for failing, so you may have to keep it open. I would have no hesitation installing some sort of door bell.

Wiring in a doorbell at this point will cost what, $20? Not worth the discussion I would think. Run the wire, you can decide at any time whether to use it or not. Adding it later is a PITA.

Yes you need a doorbell at the front door still. I've lived with gates. They don't always stay closed, you could leave it open expecting 10 friends to come over, you could decide to remove the gate or never close it in the future...

Most people don't feel comfortable just walking in someone elses house, so you'll buzz them in the gate and they'll still want you to open the door for them. You could be in the basement or bathroom and not hear a knock etc