Spring 2009 Parade of Homes “Dream Home”

In preparation for the office I built in the $4,700,000 Dream Home, I met with a guy named Tom Schrunk, who builds Steinway Art Case pianos to learn how he book-matched burl veneer for his $200,000 pianos.  I applied these same techniques to the walnut armoire and bathroom vanity I built for the “Dream Home”.

It was really awesome working along side some of the best designers and craftsmen in the Twin Cities on this project.  I installed the walnut home office on the weekend, and I’ll never forget the Monday morning phone call I made to follow up with Rick Hendel, in regards to the weekend’s install.  When I asked him how the cabinets looked compared to other high-end woodwork he had seen his response was, “As nice if not nicer.”  To this day, that was the best complement I have ever received.

“A close friend of ours told us about Brian, so we decided to take a chance with this young furniture maker- and are we are glad we did!  It is a marriage of elegance and function.  The grain of the walnut matches from section to section. The large burl veneering has no seams-perfectly matched.  Brian applied walnut burl on the inside of our eight-foot cabinet door knowing it would be left open.  And our master closet? Wow. It’s another union of function and beauty.  We call it our “Ralph Lauren” room.”  -S. Fannon