Dixon, Kazek & Morrison Building Success on the Coast

The dynamic trio of Steve Dixon, Jon Kazek, and Chris Morrison seem to have nailed the formula for successful home building. Equal partners in Dixon Kazek Morrison Custom Home Designs (DKM), all are Florida-certified general contractors and their home-building territory stretches from Rosemary Beach to Shalimar.

While many of their exclusive custom homes are built on or near water in South Walton, they are currently building beautiful, huge waterfront homes in Shalimar along the many bayous in that area. “Basically, lots are at a premium,” says Steve. "In all counties, older houses are being torn down…you’re basically buying a house to get a lot.”

Asked what differentiates DKM from other area builders, Steve is quick to reply, “We (the three of us) oversee all aspects of our projects. We do everything. We design, do job site supervision, accounting, clerical, we even clean our own toilets,” laughs Steve. “By being so hands-on, we can micro-manage every level of the process.”

New trends are always a challenge for any custom home builder. “Fortunately, we are in the high, high end market and our clients are very well versed in the latest trends and gadgets. They really stretch us to put the ‘latest and greatest’ technology into their custom home,” continues Steve.

Since the DKM clientele are literally from around the world, there are occasional requests made to build something into a home that hasn’t yet been tried in the United States. “But that’s good,” says Steve. “We’ve done a lot of really nice, innovative building because of it. We’ve never built the same home twice. We’re strictly a custom home builder building one home at a time with styles ranging anywhere from ultra-modern to traditional and everything in between.”

Established in 2001, DKM is centrally located in Miramar Beach. Offering a turn-key operation, they help buyers from start to finish. They handle everything concerned with the home-building process. “We help clients find a lot if they don’t yet have one. We manage an architect if they want us to. Of course we manage the construction of their home and after it is built, we are happy to furnish it for them. We’ve built numerous homes for out-of-the-country clients, many of which we’ve only met through email and FaceTime.”

Steve and his counterparts have definitely “partnered up” in their quest for excellent custom home building. They see a steady climb in the home building business. They witnessed a real construction boom following the recent building recession. They saw no steady climb, just full-throttle immediate construction in the SoWal area. Although building materials were readily available with the boom, the price of materials was sky high and remains so today.

“The main shortage that we are experiencing as builders today is that of experienced skilled labor. Sadly, a lot of younger people are just not coming into our industry. I just think the reason for this is societal. Kids think they can come out of school and become instant CEO’s in business. They are often in for a rude awakening when they find this isn’t the case. Then they realize they will have to work for a living and that pretty much takes them out of the construction business as “work” is everyone’s middle name in our business.

The DKM partners have their eyes focused on the future, building just a handful of homes per year. They are very confident with their loyal work force as over 85% of their subs have been with them from day one. So they will continue to build the homes they are known for with baby boomers gone wild and SoWal remaining a big attraction to them.
 

New 9,600 sf home construction on Cinco Bayou in Fort Walton Beach. DKM managed the entire project from demolition of existing house on site, planning and design of new home, construction, dock and pool, and final site landsccaping.

For more information: Phone, 850-650-7539. Web Address: www.dkmcustomhomes.com . Address: 12273 Emerald Coast Parkway, Suite 108, Holiday Plaza, Miramar Beach, Florida 32550. Follow Dixon Kazek Morrison Custom Homes on Facebook to follow projects and see photos.

Dixon Kazek & Morrison Custom Home Designs is featured in the SoWal Business Guide.