Luxury Leader: Dahn Custom Homes

Dahn Custom Home first came to our attention when 5142 Stonegate hit the market. We were impressed with this fresh take on a Texas transitional and wanted to know more about newcomer David Dahn and his outlook on luxury building.

CandysDirt.com: David, give us a little background on you and how you ended up starting Dahn Custom Homes in Dallas?

David Dahn: In 2016, I married my husband in Los Angeles. We met in graduate school at USC in 2008, where we both got our Masters in Business, and I also got my Masters in Real Estate Development. When we decided to have a family we wanted to move to Dallas to be near Adam’s family. He grew up here and always said it was the best place to raise children. That, coupled with all the real estate opportunities, made us decide to move in 2018. At the time, I was finishing up a project on Balboa Island in Newport Beach and traveling back and forth every week. One day I decided to take a different route to Love field and got lost. I was driving around and discovered Bluffview and saw a for sale sign on the old house at 5142 Stonegate. After six months of negotiation, I owned it! 

CD: Dahn Custom Homes first new build in Dallas, was $5.79 million. It sold pretty quickly for a spec home in that price range.

DD: Even though it’s obvious to say – location ALWAYS matters. A great location will always help to weather any market or economic challenges. It may be more challenging in a pandemic, but, it still helps. For my first project in Dallas, I would not settle for anything but a great location to help minimize my own risk as a new developer to Dallas. I’m a firm believer that the lot should drive the floorplan. This seems obvious, but often builders think of this as the secondary driver. For example, I think if you are adding a window, it should look out at something beautiful, not the street or your neighbor’s fence – but a garden or a beautiful tree, or your pool. It’s often hard to do, and you have to make some sacrifices from a typical floorplan, but, in the end, the house feels in harmony with the landscape and neighborhood around it. To so many builders, it’s MORE WINDOWS! But if that window is looking at your AC units, why add it? 

For 5142 Stonegate, even though there were so many beautiful old oak trees, the land was a hard sell because there was so much street frontage, even though it is not a busy street. To counter this, I designed a one-room deep “L” shaped house that meandered through the trees, where almost every window was turned inward towards the property’s back yard. Walking through this one-room deep house, you never feel like you are exposed to the street, and your eye is always directed towards an interesting view. The uniqueness of the floorplan and the harmony with the lot and the trees make it successful. 

There was a lot of interest, especially from potential buyers with families. Most people appreciated the uniqueness of the home. They saw the quality of our subcontractors’ craftsmanship and the incredible attention to detail in the design. Being different, though, can have challenges. This home was not like every other house you see on Pinterest or in magazines. Potential buyers looking at that price point are sophisticated about current trends, so that adds to the challenges when you present something new. I believe, though, that quality is evident and the buyer that appreciates quality will always come along.

CD: You determined what was missing in Dallas, started Dahn Custom Homes to fill the void, and were successful. What did you see that no one else seemed to be seeing?

DD: The void that I saw was the spec market at that price point. Coming from California, I was already dealing with those price points, so it gave me more confidence to build in that range. I also saw so many houses that were 12-15,000-square-feet for sale that, in my opinion, were just too big for many of today’s buyers. With all that square footage, you get enormous rooms that often lack natural light and detail that make them interesting. A smaller (although still enormous for me coming from California) house in the 7-8,000- square-foot range seemed more appropriate. You are still spending the budget of those big houses, but the smaller square footage allows you to focus more on the details. Again with visual references like Pinterest, buyers are more familiar with the ways that make a house special, a second kitchen, a wine room, media rooms, coffee bars, etc. They are also familiar with the materials that make those rooms shine from the tile and paint to the fixtures. You need to deliver on those expectations. 

CD:  What do you see changing in the luxury custom home building market over the next year?

DD: I think we are going back towards more compartmentalization. I’ll call it open compartmentalization rather than open concept. Rooms with small spaces all around that can be used for different purposes. Families don’t want to be on top of each other for every task, but emotionally we still want to feel like our loved ones are close. A guide that I follow when I develop a house is a book called A Patterned Language by Christopher Alexander. One of the patterns that it references is about alcoves. The concept is as follows: Family members are always coming and going. Kids have school. Parents have work. Errands have to be run. All this coming and going can create a lot of chaos in the house. But what about that one person who is working at home or doing homework or enjoying a meal? They don’t always want their space to be interrupted or disturbed. You can solve this by creating pockets or alcoves around a room for this chaos to settle, for example, a breakfast nook off of a kitchen. That way, if someone wants a quiet breakfast, they can sit there away from all the commotion of people running to work or grabbing a quick snack.  Other ways to do this are window seats or a bar that opens into two different rooms, a back kitchen, or a butler’s pantry. People have become familiar with these spaces but not necessarily the purpose for them. When you understand the purpose better, it helps you refine and create a more successful floorplan. With more people working at home and families wanting to be together but completing different tasks, these spaces, done successfully, will become even more vital. 

CD:  What’s the best thing about building luxury custom homes in Dallas?

DD: This city is booming, and you can feel it. It’s an exciting place to work. It’s thrilling to be a part of a city that is growing and open to growth. There are opportunities everywhere. Developing in California became difficult because often, the city or community was more focused on stopping development. They were not open to new ideas and consistently put up roadblocks that stifled growth. I can understand why sometimes that is necessary, but it also limited a lot of creative opportunities. 

CD: What’s the most challenging thing about building luxury custom homes in Dallas?

DD: I think the most challenging thing is finding a lot that feels really special. The topography being what it is, there is not a lot of diverse landscapes. It is a beautiful city. You just have to find something unique about where you are building, whether it’s a creek, beautiful old trees, parks, or neighboring homes. 

CD:Tell us about Dahn Homes upcoming projects!

DD: I am currently finishing up a remodel and interior design in University Park and rehabilitating an old mid-century modern home, and bringing it up to today’s standards with a more modern floorplan while still preserving that aesthetic. I am also looking for additional opportunities all around Dallas!