They Build the House
Making it Home with Axis Enterprises
by Cassidy Mantor
“I have built many houses in Bend and Awbrey Butte over the years, but being born and raised in Central Oregon, Bend doesn’t feel like the Bend I grew up knowing. Brasada and Grandview feel like home to me.”
–Chad Anderson, Founder, Axis Enterprises
Knowing where to start is sometimes the hardest part of a large project like building a custom home. Chad Anderson, founder of Axis Enterprises, is a general contractor who knows where to start. Over the span of his two-decades-long career, Chad has established Axis as a unique builder also doing in-house excavation and framing of award-winning homes in Central Oregon. Most recently, Axis won 2023 COBA Tour of Homes awards for Best Architectural Design, Best Value, and Best of Show for homes $3.1M – $3.8M, as well as this year’s COBA awards for best kitchen, interior finish, landscaping, and master suite. The handful of awards is not surprising given Chad’s talent and passion for building the best way possible. After more than 20 years of working as a framer, Chad formed Axis. The company prioritizes customer service, quality craftsmanship, and timely completion of dream homes. Their team is motivated by the knowledge that they are building places to call home.
The majority of Axis Enterprises projects are in Brasada Ranch, a serendipitous happening for Chad and his wife, Amy, a native of Terrebonne and the Axis bookkeeper and office manager. Building in Brasada let them keep an eye on Grandview, a newer development of 10-acre lots across the street. They’d sought more space to spread out, and when their house in Brasada sold exceptionally fast – just eight months after they’d moved in – they knew they wanted the space for a shop, an RV-sized garage for the boat and truck, and a gym. If Amy was going to have to move again so quickly, she was going to get a great family home gym out of it. Axis could do that.
“Building in Crook County is an enjoyable experience for Axis,” Chad says. “I have built many houses in Bend and Awbrey Butte over the years, but being born and raised in Central Oregon, Bend doesn’t feel like the Bend I grew up knowing. Brasada and Grandview feel like home to me.”
BUILDING THE HOUSE
When it was time to build their new family home in Grandview, Chad and Amy turned to award-winning custom home designer Darrin Hollyman, who had designed their previous family home in Brasada. Hollyman designed a 4,300-square-foot four-bedroom home on one level with mountain views from every room. It is a sleek modern structure that is appropriate to the site. Chad worked with the Axis trade partners to utilize metal both inside and out and bring to life an aesthetic of “less is more.”
From the outside, the house is all black. Black windows, a shallow roof, and dark charcoal gray paint make a bold statement. Natural wood siding was incorporated for accent walls. Most exciting is the view of the Three Sisters that is framed through the windows when coming up the driveway. The house packs a punch with a tastefully confident sense of place.
Being at home is the point of this house, and that feeling is grounded in the presence of the Three Sisters. Axis put a black 20-foot sliding door in the great room to allow for easy indoor/outdoor access and views of the mountains. The door slides open to a covered patio. Going down a few steps, the firepit sits on a lower level of the patio that ultimately drops down to the backyard. “The mountains are our backdrop,” Chad says. Back in the great room, on either side of the metal infinity fireplace, 16-foot rock walls climb from floor to ceiling. Axis brought that same earthy feeling into the primary bedroom with an accent wall of the same rock.
“The mountains are our backdrop.”
–Chad Anderson, Founder, Axis Enterprises
In the kitchen, stainless JennAir appliances are clad in hickory paneling for a modern look. “We used a vertical grain hickory with no profiles on the cabinet faces,” Chad says. “Hickory is a very hard hardwood, more durable than alder. We have young boys and their friends coming over, and we wanted something that will hopefully hold up to what we’re going to offer it. We’re going to use this house, live in it, and have fun in it.”
The large quartz kitchen island is where the living happens in their new house. “I spend most of my time at the island and feel centered there,” Chad says. In past houses, Axis has done the perimeter of the kitchen in one quartz and then created contrast with the island using a different stone. “It was hard for us to stick to our guns with the less-is-more theme at times, knowing the options for the materials we could use, but we wanted to keep the focus on the flow of the floorplan and the views without creating too much distraction,” he adds.
Axis’ commitment to the design intent is evident. The house is a masterpiece of subtle craftsmanship and expert materials usage. Metal features prominently, both outside and in. A floor-to-ceiling 16-foot waxed metal fireplace is united with a steel I-beam running over the kitchen island. The metal is not the traditional powder-coated variety often seen inside. Instead, it’s raw and natural, and shows the heat variations and lines from when it was forged. Axis added a piece of barn wood to the I-beam and hung pendant lights from it, a technique that utilized reclaimed materials and also allowed them to hide the wiring of the pendant lights for a cleaner presentation. The metal story concludes with the hood over the gas range that is capped off with hickory paneling.
The house is a masterpiece of subtle craftsmanship and expert materials usage. Metal features prominently, both outside and in. A floor-to-ceiling 16-foot waxed metal fireplace is united with a steel I-beam running over the kitchen island.
“It was done by a local husband and wife who used reclaimed wood. We gave them an idea of what we wanted and the result is perfect.”
–Chad Anderson, Founder, Axis Enterprises
Although the walls are white and many of the accents and trims are black, a handmade barn door conceals the powder room and is a noteworthy piece of sustainable art. “It was done by a local husband and wife who used reclaimed wood,” Chad shares. “We gave them an idea of what we wanted and the result is perfect.” The door, with its Pendleton-style inlay, provides floor-to-ceiling visual interest that can be seen from behind the fireplace and it is also functional for privacy when the powder room is in use.
Neither Chad nor Amy are “bath people” so they opted for a grand walk-in shower in the primary bathroom. Chad knew he wanted large tiles, and ultimately wound up cutting 5’x 5’ slabs of porcelain to get the effect he sought. A door opens from the master bathroom to the hot tub with great views. In addition to windows capturing the landscape, another sliding door opens from the primary bedroom to the covered porch for another access point to the outdoors. On the opposite end of the house, the boys’ rooms and a game room will provide a destination where there are fewer breakables and not as many rules, according to Chad.
In addition to the main house’s three-car garage, Axis built a 3,000-square-foot structure that houses a shop and gym as well as a 24”x60” RV bay for the family to back their wake boat into and keep it hooked up to the truck all weekend. “When we’re doing family time, all we have to do is park it and open windows to allow it to dry out, and then on Sunday morning we’re ready to roll,” Chad says.
Part of the deal with this move was that they would have a family gym. Axis built a climate-controlled oasis to work out in. The floors are epoxy with chips throughout the shop and garage, but in the gym, they used pearl white epoxy with a metallic marble design to differentiate the spaces. It’s bright and cool and has its own sound system and mountain views.
MAKING IT HOME
The Axis motto is, “We build the house. You make it home.” Chad and his family live that motto. He says they get asked a lot if the Grandview home is their forever home, and he says that he’s not sure if a forever home exists for them after moving out of their Brasada one, but that he hopes they’re here for a while.
The home is centered on the property and takes advantage of every mountain view available. Over the years, designer Darrin Hollyman has become a frequent collaborator with Axis. The two companies speak the same language, which translates into being able to build quality custom homes surprisingly quickly, like this one that included the 4,300-square-foot main house and its 3,000-square-foot shop/gym that was finished in eight months. “Sometimes it can be hard to work with a designer because you have to find common ground and speak the same language,” Chad says. “With Darrin, there’s no wondering what he’s thinking. We can communicate easily with a phone call or email and get on the same page quickly.” Chad adds, “I try as much as possible to not change what Hollyman does. He has the paintbrush and once we have an understanding about the look, it’s my turn to step in.”
“Lot 19 or none of them…I wanted the certainty of knowing that our view will never change.”
–Chad Anderson, Founder, Axis Enterprises
Chad told Amy years ago that if they bought in Grandview, it would have to be “Lot 19 or none of them.” When they heard that Grandview was going up for sale, they called the developer and were number 34 on his list. There were only 20 lots, so they ended up not getting the opportunity to buy at first. A year later, after Chad had the opportunity to walk the horseshoe-shaped neighborhood, 19 went up for sale and they bought it. “The whole development has 25- or 30-foot slopes so no one house will really block the views of another, but I wanted the certainty of knowing that our view will never change. The way I positioned the shop you can see little pieces of the house but don’t know what it’s really about until you come through the automated gates and make the bend. Then everything opens up.”
Being from Prineville, Chad grew up with the silhouette of the mountains on the horizon. That theme is subtly incorporated in the intricate craftsmanship and geometric alignment between manmade features in the house and the natural landscape. Axis’ metal fabricators – the Yancey brothers Chad’s high school buddies – cut the Three Sisters in the metalwork on the surround of the fireplace as well as on the firepit. On the back patio, the eye extends from the firepit detail up to the horizon, where the ridge sits in real life. “That silhouette also appears as a relief sculpture crafted in our automated gate at the front of the property. It’s backlit so at night the lights come on and illuminate the mountains,” Chad says. Bringing in the Three Sisters was not a theme they initially intended to go with, but as they were building, it became clear that the mountains are part of what makes this place home.
“That silhouette also appears as a relief sculpture crafted in our automated gate at the front of the property. It’s backlit so at night the lights come on and illuminate the mountains.”
–Chad Anderson, Founder, Axis Enterprises
Axis is a unique general contractor in that they offer their excavation and framing services a la carte to other contractors, as well as being able to offer the entire package. Relationships with their trade partners are a key part of their business. “Being born and raised here and working in the industry for as long as we’ve been, we’re well-rooted,” Chad says. “While it’s true that we excavate and frame and manage schedules, ultimately from plumbers and electricians to heating/cooling guys, I’ve worked with these people for a long time. Their reliability and commitment to quality work are as key to delivering a finely finished product as us self-performing what we do.”
The house feels like home, something that could not happen without the firm’s expert building and hands-on operational management. “Our core group of employees have been with us from the start doing carpentry and full site development. We are so grateful for the impact they have on our company – that consistency has been a big part of our success,” Chad explains. Most of the Axis team has been with them for seven years since the company was formed. They only build a handful of houses each year, an intentional choice that allows them to work at capacity and also stay in total control of their schedule and quality. He adds, “We’re the ones clearing the land and getting everything ready and putting the schedule together. Eight months later, you have a house.”
“Our core group of employees have been with us from the start doing carpentry and full site development. We are so grateful for the impact they have on our company – that consistency has been a big part of our success.”
–Chad Anderson, Founder, Axis Enterprises
Presently, Axis is building another house in Brasada, and Chad and Amy are proud of their award-winning house that was featured on the COBA Tour of Homes this past July. They love participating in the Tour of Homes because the events present opportunities to meet people and share their work experiences. Of course, there’s always a chance that their home could be sold on the Tour – especially since it won 7 awards in its price category – but for now, Chad, Amy, and their boys are enjoying being at home in the house Axis built for them.
