A control management system provides a plurality of software controllable devices coupled to a network wherein each device has at least one property to be controlled and a plurality of clients for changing the properties of at least one device. An event manager acts as an interface between the clients and the devices. The event manager maintains a persistence store of all the properties being controlled in the home control management system and the current values of the properties. When the client requests status information of the properties it controls, the event manager provides this information to the client thereby avoiding the need for the client to separately query each individual device.