At Home With David and Jamie Van Dixhorn
As you approach David and Jamie Van Dixhorn’s home, you know in an instant that there’s nothing run-of-the-mill about it.
From outside their contemporary home, you can easily see into the house, through an abundance of floor-to-ceiling windows that cover entire walls. The exterior is black and is finished in cypress that has been burned in a decades-old Japanese process called shou sugi ban, but there are also areas of Corten steel that provide accents.
Inside the over 8,000-square-foot home — which they named The Woodland House — it’s as bright as can be and is done primarily in white with black and gray accenting and a few pops of color in their furnishings and artwork.
The owners say that when building the home, their intention was to create something architecturally significant. Clearly, they achieved that goal.
Jamie, who is director of communications for the Kohler Co. kitchen and bath, said that she and her husband grew up in Wisconsin — she in Fond du Lac, he in Sheboygan — but that they met in Chicago after college and lived there for 15 years. He is the global category manager-real estate at Kohler. The couple have three young children.
While in Chicago, David worked as a developer and fell in love with some of the unique design features he saw in a variety of buildings. She fell in love with modern design trends there, too.
“We took a lot of inspiration from living in urban lofts and from other modern architecture we saw in the area,” she said.
Jamie said their journey started 4½ years ago when they moved to a little bungalow in Kohler for their jobs, and they also bought a wooded lot spanning two acres where they would build their dream home.
They began working with Bruns Architecture in Milwaukee. The architect had a vision of using three intersecting long rectangular sections — they call them bars — to create their house.
Jamie said the first bar runs east and west on the south side of the property and includes a 3½-car garage, powder room, mudroom, a family area they call the command center, a three-season room and an entryway.
The second bar — which is the largest — runs down the center of the house from south to north and includes the TV room, kitchen, eating area, living room and master bedroom.
The third bar, at the north end of the house, runs east and west and holds the children’s bedrooms, a laundry room and the main entryway.
Because the three bars created a u-shaped space at the back of the house, they added a large patio with a fire pit there.
Construction started in May 2014 but didn’t finish until December 2016.
“It was a long process, and we did a lot of the design work ourselves,” Jamie said. “Because this house has so many unique features, it took longer to finish.”
“David worked as the general contractor. He worked with the contractors to be sure everything was perfect — not just done — and that everything was done with an eye toward how our family would live, grow and move in the different spaces.”
Some of the features they added include white terrazzo flooring with in-floor heating throughout the entire main floor, and large cabinetry in nearly every room that was custom made by Florense. These pieces hold clothing, household goods and even hide appliances, but they also act as room dividers in some areas.
Ceilings in the main part of the home are 13 feet high and 10 feet in the rest of the house, and many of the rooms have full walls of windows accented in black.
David and Jamie Van Dixhorn wanted a home that was unique. Located on two acres, their home has modern and contemporary features they admired while living in urban settings. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
David said they also added a dropped ceiling in cypress shou sugi ban — done in a lighter tone than on the exterior — in the kitchen, dining area and living room, as well as on a wall in the entryway.
Counter tops on their two kitchen islands, in their bathrooms and on other surfaces in their home were all done in white Cambria. They also used Cambria in a soothing gray color to accent the large two-sided fireplace that divides their living room from the foyer off their main entryway.
“All the doorways are also larger than normal and have sliding doors that give the house a really open look,” added Jamie.
The fixtures, faucets and vanities in their bathrooms — as well as faucets in their kitchen — are also some of the home’s most unique features and are all from Kohler.
In their master bathroom there are double vessel sinks, a toilet room, and a 10-by-6-foot shower with a floating bench made of Cambria and a shower system with two separate Kohler DTV+ digital interfaces.
David explained that each shower area can be programmed to the homeowner’s preferences. For example, he can preset how many shower heads will spray water on him, where the water will go, what temperature the water will be, the pressure of the water, and the color of the light that will go on while he is showering. The system also can turn the space into a steam room.
Should they want to take a bath or shower outside, they can slide open a large glass door off their master bathroom and step into a bathing area that’s sheltered on three sides.
“In summer when the foliage fills in, it’s very private,” said Jamie. “When we fill the tub the water flows in a large arch from the wall and there are also shower heads, body sprays and a hand shower.”
In their daughter’s bathroom they installed a chromo therapy tub by Kohler. Features in the tub include sound and light for a spa-like feel.
The couple recently talked about their home.
Question: How would you describe the boy’s bedrooms?
Jamie: We call it the Jack and Jack bedroom. It’s one room, but it’s divided in half by a large Florense cabinet in a clay color. They each have storage space in the cabinet on their side and they each have their own bathroom. Both bathrooms are the same.
Q.What about your daughter’s room?
Jamie: She has a Florense closet in high gloss clay color, and a desk and side tables to match. We used a ballet pink color on the walls, desk and table. She also has twin beds with pink spreads, and pink beanbag chairs. Her bathroom has two sinks and her tub has a Cambria base, and Ann Sacks tile was used to accent.
Q.How did you decorate your powder room?
Jamie: We did the whole room in black. We put in a Cambria vanity top, a round sink and a wall-hung toilet. We used a wall-mount faucet in a titanium finish. In that room we did two walls in shou sugi ban.
Q. How would you describe your kitchen?
David: We have a large Florense cabinet on one side that hides a 36-inch refrigerator, a 36-inch freezer and a microwave and it also provides storage. In the center of that cabinet we have a convection oven, and a steam oven.
We have two islands. Each is 4-by-12 feet. One has an induction cooktop with touch controls and the other has a sink. We have the dishwasher hidden in the cabinets under one island, and one island has seating.
Q. Can you describe your dining area?
David: We have a table in black by Florense and we have reproduction Eames dining room chairs.
Q.And your living room?
David: We have two camel color chairs. We also have a sofa, bench, and a coffee table in natural oak. Those pieces are all by Florense.
Q. You have a number of pieces by Florense. What is it you like about this company?
David: Their pieces can be customized for our needs. They come in different finishes, colors and sizes. They have a wide variety of different products, so everything matches.
Q. What is it you like about shou sugi ban?
David: It’s insect-resistant, fire-resistant, doesn’t fade, and needs no sealing or painting. It’s very sustainable. This is a green-friendly and healthy home.
Q.What landscaping did you add?
David: We got black granite boulders from a quarry in Wausau. At least one boulder can be seen from every window in the house. We also added black granite chips and different grasses.
Q. What’s in the lower level?
David: A guest bedroom, a wine bar, two bathrooms, a TV area and large spaces for the kids to play. We added charcoal-polished concrete floors with in-floor heating down there.
Q. Your favorite rooms?
David: I like the TV room because it’s where the family gathers. When I want to get away, I like the outdoor shower. I can look at the stars at night.
Jamie: The patio and the family command center. We added the command center because as a working mom of three small kids there is a lot to keep in order. I do lists here and we do art projects. It’s a place where the kids do their homework and play. It’s the inner workings of our family, and it’s the one room we allow to get cluttered.
Q. Would you call your home a smart home?
Jamie: Yes. From temperature control to music, televisions and our garage door and lighting, almost everything can be customized and controlled via our phones. We also have electronic roller shades that cover the windows from floor to ceiling.
Q.You added a lot of major amenities here. Are there any small extras you added that you especially like?
David: Outside as well as inside the garage we used house hydrants from Aquor Water systems because they don’t stick out like the brass ones do. In the garage we put in a shower base and have hot water there so I can wash the cars. We could even wash the kids in there!
Do you, or does someone you know, have a cool, funky or exquisite living space that you’d like to see featured in At Home? Contact Fresh home and garden editor Nancy Stohs at (414) 224-2382 or email nstohs@journalsentinel.com.