While each project that Dixon Builders delivers is special, for Cary Dixon and Lisa Stephenson, their family home has an extra special touch.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Located on Menzies Rd, Echuca, the 2020 build hits the convenient-but-quiet sweet spot.
“It’s not in town, but it’s close to town,” Cary said.
“Far enough to be a hidden little location, which surprised a lot of people.”
Neighboured by fellow beautiful homes, the skillion roof and angled walls are particularly striking.
Not to be missed is Lisa’s palm tree, sitting proudly in the centre of the front garden.
“We had a bit of an idea when we bought the block, the first thing to go in the whole thing was going to be the palm tree in the front,” Lisa said.
“I wanted an in-and-out driveway with a palm tree.”
From the first steps through the front door, handcrafted by family friend and former St Joseph’s College teacher Caroline Smith, there is an abundance of natural light.
Features like the high ceilings and highlight windows help to bring the brightness.
In Cary’s business, he has increasingly seen homes use these design elements.
“A lot of the houses we’re building at the moment are trying to get natural light,” he said.
“There is a lot of vaulted ceilings or high ceilings.”
Other design decisions like under-floor insulation and double-glazed windows are increasingly popular to improve energy efficiency, in-line with the Victorian Government’s seven star building standards.
At the Dixon’s home, a fireplace, ceiling fans and reverse-cycle air conditioning make it comfortable year-round.
Their energy use is also supported by solar panels.
“In the middle of summer, the ceiling fans are amazing, and the windows open up so you can get air through it,” Lisa said.
“It’s not a hot house by any means.”
Embracing indoor-outdoor living, the home centres around a patio and swimming pool, complete with separate poolroom.
The term ‘entertainer’s delight’ is often thrown around, but the Dixon’s house is truly the perfect party pad, tested with family functions and birthday milestones.
“Cary had the idea of having the pool enclosed,” Lisa said.
“Labour-wise it was pretty intensive, but that was the way we wanted to do it with the outdoor area onto the pool, and then the pool house.
“We’ve had a couple of kids turn 21 since we’ve moved in here ... it’s been a great entertainment area.”
Along with the parties, the house is not short of family memories.
Dixon Builders was founded by Cary’s parents Noel and Lois Dixon in 1976, with Cary joining as an apprentice in 1985 and taking over the business in 2012.
Continuing the Dixon name, two of Cary and Lisa’s sons, Kade and Grady, also undertook their carpentry apprentices at the family business.
They helped build the house with Cary, the third family home he and Lisa worked on from the ground-up.
“You get a few ideas and inspiration from the last one to move on to the next one,” Cary said.
“The house before this in Grayson Tce, I thought that was the best home we’d built, then to step up again to the next level.”
Menzies Rd takes bits and pieces from the couple’s previous homes, combined with Lisa’s creative vision and EDG Project building designer Alistair McDonald’s guidance.
The result can be coined ‘industrial chic’, mixing materials and textures in an impressive marriage.
“The floor is reclaimed timber ... the barn doors are recycled,” Lisa said.
“Those besser blocks (in the kitchen), that was a photo I saw somewhere, and I’d had that picture for years before we built this house.”
Despite an industrial aesthetic, the feeling in the main bedroom is as if you have stepped into a resort, complete with pool views.
Behind the bed is a walk-in wardrobe, designed to be tucked away, and ensuite with elevated details like inset lighting, square set door frames and a wash plane basin.
“When I first moved in, and you walk in there during the day, I felt like I was at a bit of a resort,” Lisa said.
“You look out the bedroom window, and you can see the pool, so, you get that little bit of a feeling that you could be on holidays.”
Cary has his own getaway spaces in the poolroom and his shed, hidden away at the back of the beautifully landscaped property.
“(The trees) work in the perfect spot,” he said.
“The garden there hides off the back and that part of the yard.
“There’s another little fire pit area out the back, another hideaway area.”
Not only is the Menzies Rd property the Dixon’s home, but it’s a labour of love for the family business.
Their visitors’ reactions say it all.
“They get a bit of a wow factor out of it,” Cary said.
“People come to visit and walk in and go, ‘gee’, which is pretty good.”
- Story originally published in Our Home, September 2025
Photos Jordan Townrow, Rachel Lewis Photographer