Destination: Home

Destination: Home

By Melissa Kandel

Burkhart Brothers Construction is creating idyllic getaways inside your own front door

The thing you take away after even just a few minutes talking with the Burkhart brothers is that they really, really like their job. And why wouldn’t they? The luxury builders and owners of Burkhart Brothers Construction are crafting breathtaking homes in Orange County’s most coveted coastal communities while literally raising the bar on luxurious living. (And by raising the bar, we mean building them, like a perfectly nostalgic high-end replica of a client’s favorite college hangout right inside his home.)

The Burkhart brothers keep operations boutique, handling a portfolio of about 25 active projects at any given time, so each project highlights an impeccable attention to detail and a highly custom construction experience that transforms the finest materials into the most phenomenal homes.

With imagination, passion and an anything-goes attitude, the team installs giant fish tanks in living rooms, endless-view infinity pools in backyards, and custom glass shower doors so crystal clear, you wouldn’t even know they existed. The homes they create are more than resort-like properties, they’re exclusive destinations, no passport or packing required.

ONE LUXE: Is resort-style living a big trend right now in the new construction world?

BRYAN BURKHART: It’s funny you ask that. We just had a design meeting with a client about his new house in Laguna Beach and the one thing he wants is for us to make it feel like a resort.

MARK BURKHART: It’s true. We’ve been blessed with the projects we work on, and a lot of our clients find something in a resort then say, “Hey, let’s do this.” But I’d like to think almost every one of the products we build in the $5-10 million range, as far as the finished home goes, are even more impressive than a resort.

What specifically are some of the resort-style features your clients are requesting in these luxury new construction projects?

BRYAN: A lot of movie theaters, smart home appliances for the kitchen and bathroom, indoor/outdoor living spaces, large custom walk-in closets, swimming pools with a baja shelf and built-in lounge chairs for relaxing in the pool, fountains and water features, spas, black onyx countertops, back-lit bars, floating shelves, surround-sound systems … all the things that separate a great resort from a bad one. It’s really about the details and those high-end finishes people want today. For instance, instead of a shower having traditional tile, we’re doing solid slabs of marble on the walls, and we’ll build curbless showers where you don’t step over anything to get into the shower. The glass we use on all of our houses is called Starphire®, which is clearer than regular glass. If you look at the old Coke bottles back in the 1960s, the glass was green because of the iron they used to make those bottles, but now there are special processes that can remove the iron from the glass so it’s as clear as possible. We use Starphire® glass for features like custom shower doors made from that super clear glass, metal and steel. These resort-style bathrooms also have rain showerheads, floating vanities with rolled up towels underneath, floor heaters and of course, large standalone tubs.

MARK: A high-end bar is another popular one. We’re doing a lot of bars with wine dispensers where you can have, let’s say, five bottles of wine and at the push of a button the wine is perfectly poured into your glass then sealed and protected. Also, it’s not specifically a resort feature but I’ve been surprised by how many dog washing stations we’ve built lately. Effectively, they’re a large countertop with a washer and dryer on both sides, almost like a luxurious salon, with straps to hold in the dog, blow dryers and clippers. You can spend as much as $10,000 to $25,000 on a quality dog washing station today.

Why do you think these resort-style amenities are so popular right now?

BRYAN: The clients we work with travel a lot for work and vacation. Half the time I can’t reach a client if I need them because they’re in India or England or at a ski resort in Park City. With all the travel, they get used to that standard and want to experience it at home, every single day from the minute they wake up in the morning.

MARK: We’re currently building 25 homes right now and I’d say about 95% of those projects are absolutely resort-style quality or better. Everything is bigger and better today, with a higher standard of living. You can see it in backyard pools. They used to cost around $50,000 but now we’re building pools that are $120,000 or more, with infinity edges where you can look over and it seems like the pool falls off into the view. But I think the resort trend itself goes back to COVID when people were stuck in their houses for so long, unable to travel to hotels, and they wanted to really be in love with where they lived.

BRYAN: Mark’s right. COVID changed everything. We thought it might kill high-end construction but it has completely reinvented the wheel. Instead of people wanting to get away, they’re learning how to spend time with their families at home, laying by an awesome pool or making pizza together in a custom outdoor pizza oven.

What makes a house a luxury home?

BRYAN: How it makes you feel. Period. When people take a relaxing bath in their oversized tub or watch TV on a giant screen by a fire pit or listen to music and the sound is all around them, it makes them feel like they’re on vacation. That’s luxury. Luxury is how your home makes you feel.

MARK: I think when you consider staying at a resort, you ask yourself: ‘What is the experience they’re providing?’ And you’re really asking, ‘How will this place make me feel?’ It may not be one specific thing you can point to that creates the feeling. All the finishes, everything has to blend in a way where you don’t necessarily notice one thing, you notice everything in succession, all at the same time.

For anyone reading this who wants to have a resort-style home but doesn’t know where to start, what would you recommend?

BRYAN: It’s very specific to the client but I can tell you what the key parts are: the powder room because when guests come over it’s one of the first impressions of the house they get; the primary suite because that determines your quality of life from the first minute you wake up in the morning; and for me, I’m a chef, so it’s also about having a great kitchen. Those are the basic components but like I said, it depends on the client. If you don’t care about cooking, maybe a basic kitchen works and then you might want to think about the backyard, primary suite and powder room as the best places to get started.

MARK: I’d also say, go hire a really good designer so everything blends well together. If one thing is out of whack, the whole thing is out of whack. It’s like a band with a terrible drummer. Who cares how good the rest of them are if they can’t keep a beat? Or if you’re cooking a meal and one ingredient is off, the whole dish won’t taste right. For these types of homes, everything should come together seamlessly.

Any fun current projects you can share with us?

BRYAN: We’re working on a project on the cliffs in Laguna Beach that’s four stories tall with the bottom story being an infinity pool overlooking the ocean. When you see it, it looks like the pool is falling off the cliff.

MARK: Clients are also putting anywhere from $150,000 to $200,000 into outdoor kitchens that are as nice as any indoor kitchen, so we just did one with a TV that pops down from the ceiling with all these incredible, high-end appliances.

Can you talk about some of the most luxurious projects you’ve ever built?

BRYAN: One of the most luxurious projects was also one of our most fun projects. Our client went to school at Clemson and he would go to this bar there called The Esso Club, which is Clemson’s original sports bar. So one room in the house – it was about 20 feet by 20 feet – we turned that into his Esso Bar West. It was such an elaborate project and in the end, it looked exactly like the bar.

MARK: Yes, it turned into this very cool, high-end bar. I’d say it was even nicer than some of the bars we have in Newport Beach!

Beyond resort-style living, are there other building trends you want to highlight?

BRYAN: Above and beyond the resort is the introduction of smart home technology that’s creating a more connected, comfortable way of living. From their phones, people can start their spa so it’s warm when they get home or heat their pool or turn on the AC. We have a program you can talk into and tell it exactly what to do. You can say, “Hey I’m cooking.” And it’ll adjust the lights for the theme. You can say, “Hey, I’m having a disco,” and the lights will turn the room into a disco. We did that Esso Bar West project 10 or 12 years ago and it just was the beginning of smart home technology but you could still control everything in that room remotely; there wasn’t a single switch. Today, it’s even better than that. Lighting is another trend that’s critical in luxury homes. We’re doing under cabinet lights, under counter lights. Even luxury toilets are trending. The new toilets we install in every single project costs upwards of $6,000 and they’re completely electric with heated seats.

MARK: The use of water is big too – fountains and features. We just installed a 300 gallon fish tank that allows you to see through from one room to another. All these incredible details come together to create a home that’s honestly better than any resort I know.

To learn more about Burkhart Brothers Construction, visit www.burkhartbros.com.