After refinishing the top of their pool table in matching black velvet, the Burrows incorporated the pool table into the main living area of their Woodland Hills home. The family’s goal was to create the perfect “Friday night” location.
By Matt Bennett, Photography by Dave Blackhurts, utahvalley360.com
Woodland Hills home uses natural materials, a dominating fireplace, high ceilings and earthy colors to create a comfortable, old world environment
If you had to pick one word to describe Ken and Jennelle Burrows’ new home in Woodland Hills, it would be Tuscan — with a hard edge. The four-bedroom, 6,529-square-foot home is 100 percent brick on the exterior, and it has an equally hard interior. “We used tons of tile, marble, slate and granite on this home,” says Ken Burrows, owner of the home and owner of Burrows Marble and Granite in Orem. “We installed more than nine tons of slate just in flooring, with 4,000 pounds of flooring cement.”
Because the Burrows own one of Utah Valley’s oldest and most successful granite and marble companies, solid surfaces were always in the cards for this home. Tom Nelson, president of Burrows Marble and Granite, says working on this home, which was part of the 2006 Utah Valley Parade of Homes, was a labor of love, not a “labor of labor.”
“The pace in which the home came together was comfortable for everyone working on the home,” he says.
The home began as an idea in Jennelle’s mind long before the first sketches were made of the floorplan.
“In the very beginning I wanted a stream in the front yard,” Jennelle says. “A lot of people told me the stream needed to be in the back yard, but I insisted. It’s cool when you have an idea in your head, and when your home is finished you look at it and say, ‘Wow, it turned out even better than what I thought.’”
Jennelle says she could see the precast pillars, crafted metal railings, glass, stone and lighting in her head previous to the building process, and it all came together to her satisfaction — and more.
The Burrows roughly modeled the look and feel of their new home to an Alaskan home they lived in several years earlier.
“We installed new black fabric on the pool table and used Black Galaxy granite in the fireplace to match our kitchen appliances. We love the way this large living space turned out,” Jennelle says. “It’s the kind of room where you’d like to party on a Friday night.”
The Burrows artfully combined their existing comfortable, worn, loved pieces, with newer furniture to create warm and inviting rooms. “Everything had to match my China hutch,” Jennelle says.
Extra-tall vaulted ceilings throughout the house create a feeling of openness, elegance and comfort for the Burrows family. Ornate, sometimes rustic, light fixtures also create an Old World feeling with modern conveniences.
The master bedroom was an important focus for the Burrows. The view from the second-floor master bedroom balcony stretches out to include Utah Valley in its entirety. The remainder of the master bedroom is designed with plenty of open space and a variety of master-crafted stonework and metal.
The Burrows say one of their favorite rooms in their new Woodland Hills home is their master bathroom, which could substitute for a showroom piece with its iron work and artistic stone finishes.
Additional highlights of the home include a home theater that rivals the experience at any local Larry H. Miller theater, a spacious workout room and children’s play room.
Ken, Jennelle and their four children (Simone, Justin, Sean and Cory) love the location of their home high on the Woodland Hills bench.
“We love the feeling that our home is located in a remote, wooded area,” Ken says. “There’s a lot of wildlife in the area. I love to listen for the wild turkeys in the afternoon. They’ll walk down into our backyard.”
The Burrows say that if they had their home to do all over again they wouldn’t change a thing, including their general contractor Clive T. Roundy Construction or any of their subcontractors “who all did a fantastic job.”
Amazing stonework in this state-of-the-art kitchen — complete with alder cabinets and Persian Brown granite countertops — make the kitchen comfortable and efficient.
Subcontractors include Boswell Olson, cabinets; Mountain Land Supply, plumbing fixtures; Gigi Appliance, Viking kitchen appliances; Alpine Fire, home fire extinguisher sprinklers; Closet Tech, closets; Reference Audio, home theater; Platinum Landscaping, landscaping; Lexie Olivia Interiors – Shelly Webb, interior design; Wasatch Lighting, lighting; Rocks and Stuff Excavation, retaining walls; Nelson Painting, painting; H&B Plumbing, plumbing; AnyTech Electrical, electrical; Wright Heating & Air Co., heating and air systems; R2 Framing, framing; Fireplace, Etc., fireplace; Contractor Resource, flooring; Sherwood Drywall, drywall; Aqua-Air, vacuum system; Titan, stairs; Intermountain Glass, decorative glass; Brailsford Stone, precasts; Cascade Concrete, driveway and sidewalk concrete; Kim Pierce Masonry, exterior brick work; Pella Windows, windows; Powell Garage Doors, garage doors; Interwest Security, security system; Brett Cornaby, metal railings; Ironman Metal Products, outside railings; Rose Concrete, epoxy concrete coatings.
Ken Burrows used thick, wide slabs of slate separated with strips of black galaxy granite to create his massive living room fireplace, the focal point of the room.