Houzz Tour: Wild Cats Roam This Amazing Modern Prairie House
Stunning architecture competes for attention with fabulous felines in an eye-popping home near Oklahoma City
Mitchell Parker
September 23, 2018
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More
You should never leave your shoes unattended at Warren and Becky Johnson’s modern Prairie-style home. That’s because Samson, a 40-pound African serval cat with long, well, everything — legs, ears, teeth, claws — might mistake your size 8s for dinner.
But don’t worry. The 12-year-old feline, which the Johnsons have had since he was a kitten, isn’t as pouncy and wild as he was six or seven years ago. Besides, he prefers raw chicken and shrimp to cotton and leather. These days he more or less leisurely perches, leaps and climbs through the Oklahoma City brick-and-glass home with his two semiwild Savannah cat buddies. And, being the alpha male in the house, he only occasionally terrorizes the Johnsons’ two large dogs.
Once you see the Johnsons’ home, with its fantastical pavilion roof made of feathered wood slats, a glass-bottomed mezzanine for the cats and all kinds of head-turning architectural details, you just may feel the invite was worth losing your shoes over.
But don’t worry. The 12-year-old feline, which the Johnsons have had since he was a kitten, isn’t as pouncy and wild as he was six or seven years ago. Besides, he prefers raw chicken and shrimp to cotton and leather. These days he more or less leisurely perches, leaps and climbs through the Oklahoma City brick-and-glass home with his two semiwild Savannah cat buddies. And, being the alpha male in the house, he only occasionally terrorizes the Johnsons’ two large dogs.
Once you see the Johnsons’ home, with its fantastical pavilion roof made of feathered wood slats, a glass-bottomed mezzanine for the cats and all kinds of head-turning architectural details, you just may feel the invite was worth losing your shoes over.
Photos by Bill Timmerman
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Warren and Becky Johnson and their three exotic cats, one domestic cat, two dogs and five horses
Location: Oklahoma City
Size: 7,700 square feet (715 square meters) on 44 acres; three bedrooms, 3½ bathrooms
Designer: Eddie Jones of Jones Studio and The Construction Zone (builder)
House at a Glance
Who lives here: Warren and Becky Johnson and their three exotic cats, one domestic cat, two dogs and five horses
Location: Oklahoma City
Size: 7,700 square feet (715 square meters) on 44 acres; three bedrooms, 3½ bathrooms
Designer: Eddie Jones of Jones Studio and The Construction Zone (builder)
The Johnsons spent about nine months looking for the right property on which to build their house. A 44-acre site outside downtown Oklahoma City was perfect. “It had everything we wanted,” Warren says. “Lots of big oak trees, rolling terrain, no neighbors, set way off the road, close to town, 10 minutes to work.”
The house, built in 2015, features a pavilion roof center and various axes that divide up the public and private rooms.
The house, built in 2015, features a pavilion roof center and various axes that divide up the public and private rooms.
Into the Wild
One of the cats’ favorite spots is in something architect Eddie Jones calls “the jungle,” shown here and in the first photo.
The front door opens to an atrium, the center point of the home, with a circular garden and a spiral staircase with circular treads leading up to a glass-bottomed mezzanine tucked under the roof.
Here you can see Samson descending the staircase. The cats “like holding the high ground and seeing who’s coming and going,” Jones says.
One of the cats’ favorite spots is in something architect Eddie Jones calls “the jungle,” shown here and in the first photo.
The front door opens to an atrium, the center point of the home, with a circular garden and a spiral staircase with circular treads leading up to a glass-bottomed mezzanine tucked under the roof.
Here you can see Samson descending the staircase. The cats “like holding the high ground and seeing who’s coming and going,” Jones says.
Samson, seen here in the foreground on the steps of the living room, is about the size of a medium-size dog. “Our vet calls him a cat on stilts,” Warren says. “They’ve got long legs and a long, slender body. And spotted like a leopard. Very pretty.” Simba, a 25-pound Savannah breed, which is a cross between a wild African serval and a domestic cat, lingers in the background. In Oklahoma, the large cats are legal as long as they don’t exceed 40 pounds.
The cats are affectionate with the Johnsons. They will purr but they don’t cuddle or snuggle. “They’re not really touchy-feely cats,” Warren says. “They are very silent day in, day out when not confronted. Their form of affection is different from typical house cats. They like to head-butt and rub on you. Their affection is a one-way street though. And they are driving.”
This feline psychology means the couple often screen guests before allowing them to mingle with the cats. What are they looking for? “People who aren’t scared of them,” Warren says. “Because they’re kind of intimidating. They hiss a lot and growl, they put their ears back. It’s not that they’re mad. It’s their strange way of communicating.”
It took a few visits for the Johnsons to feel comfortable letting their cats out to meet Jones. “They’re fascinating and beautiful,” the architect says. “Not so affectionate.”
The cats are affectionate with the Johnsons. They will purr but they don’t cuddle or snuggle. “They’re not really touchy-feely cats,” Warren says. “They are very silent day in, day out when not confronted. Their form of affection is different from typical house cats. They like to head-butt and rub on you. Their affection is a one-way street though. And they are driving.”
This feline psychology means the couple often screen guests before allowing them to mingle with the cats. What are they looking for? “People who aren’t scared of them,” Warren says. “Because they’re kind of intimidating. They hiss a lot and growl, they put their ears back. It’s not that they’re mad. It’s their strange way of communicating.”
It took a few visits for the Johnsons to feel comfortable letting their cats out to meet Jones. “They’re fascinating and beautiful,” the architect says. “Not so affectionate.”
Cat on a Fenced-In Roof
Jones designed numerous features in the jaw-dropping home to accommodate the cats, including a fenced-in rooftop playground, which you can see in the upper right quadrant of this aerial view of the home. It sits atop a three-car garage.
The atrium with its circular garden sits at the center of the four axes radiating out from the home. A lap pool on the left of this photo, a carport on the right, a long brick wall on the bottom and a covered walkway to a guest house appear to slice through the pavilion.
The top left quadrant is the master bedroom. The bottom left is the great room, containing the living, dining and kitchen areas. And the bottom right quadrant is a detached study that doubles as a third bedroom.
Jones designed numerous features in the jaw-dropping home to accommodate the cats, including a fenced-in rooftop playground, which you can see in the upper right quadrant of this aerial view of the home. It sits atop a three-car garage.
The atrium with its circular garden sits at the center of the four axes radiating out from the home. A lap pool on the left of this photo, a carport on the right, a long brick wall on the bottom and a covered walkway to a guest house appear to slice through the pavilion.
The top left quadrant is the master bedroom. The bottom left is the great room, containing the living, dining and kitchen areas. And the bottom right quadrant is a detached study that doubles as a third bedroom.
In the pavilion mezzanine, the cats can exit a custom pet door to enter the fenced-in playground, seen here. The area includes kids’ furniture and a tunnel, as well as a perimeter of tall grass that the cats love to hang out in. Here, Samson enjoys a sunny day on the artificial grass.
Becky often runs back and forth with a long rope for Samson to chase. Here, he’s clutching one end of the rope with his paws.
All the cats use litter boxes. “Surprisingly, servals are easy to litter-box-train,” Warren says.
Of course, the box needs to be size-appropriate for the large felines. Warren has found that drywall mud pans work best.
How to Get Your Catio On
All the cats use litter boxes. “Surprisingly, servals are easy to litter-box-train,” Warren says.
Of course, the box needs to be size-appropriate for the large felines. Warren has found that drywall mud pans work best.
How to Get Your Catio On
Samson stands near Birdie, a Basenji that Warren estimates is around 50 pounds.
Samson towers over Simba.
Here’s the very large Samson next to Becky. Warren says Samson is bigger than the trimmer servals you might see in a zoo. They don’t get fed as well as Samson, he says.
The Johnsons also have a typical domestic black-and-white house cat named Bullethead, which they adopted from one of Warren’s employees. The 14-year-old cat had been shot in the head with a pellet gun and nursed back to health, hence the name Bullethead.
The Johnsons also have a typical domestic black-and-white house cat named Bullethead, which they adopted from one of Warren’s employees. The 14-year-old cat had been shot in the head with a pellet gun and nursed back to health, hence the name Bullethead.
A House That Soars
Architect Jones came up with the layout of the home as a reaction to the vast site: 44 acres covered with trees amid a gently rolling landscape. This meant the house “could soar and spread its arms,” he says. That idea resulted in the imagined axes expanding into the trees as various wings. “Then it starts designing itself,” Jones says.
The elevation of the property is higher than downtown Oklahoma City, which is about 15 miles away and can be seen along the horizon in the top left of this photo. Jones aligned the lap pool axis dead center with Devon Tower, the largest building in Oklahoma City. “You could say the design goes well beyond the property lines,” he says.
Architect Jones came up with the layout of the home as a reaction to the vast site: 44 acres covered with trees amid a gently rolling landscape. This meant the house “could soar and spread its arms,” he says. That idea resulted in the imagined axes expanding into the trees as various wings. “Then it starts designing itself,” Jones says.
The elevation of the property is higher than downtown Oklahoma City, which is about 15 miles away and can be seen along the horizon in the top left of this photo. Jones aligned the lap pool axis dead center with Devon Tower, the largest building in Oklahoma City. “You could say the design goes well beyond the property lines,” he says.
The architect based the feathered wood slat roof design off one of his favorite houses of all time: Herb Greene’s Prairie House. “Greene’s Prairie House has always been the finest, most sincere and clearest example of a vernacular Oklahoma prairie architecture I have ever experienced,” Jones says. “There were many influences I interpreted in different ways.”
Find architects in your area
Find architects in your area
Jones chose soft wood pine so the boards would weather, crack and warp quickly. “For me, it’s relinquishing my pencil to Mother Nature and letting her finalize the house,” he says. The boards cover a waterproof membrane. “No leaks to report,” Jones adds.
Apart from a few little inputs — like not wanting a big kitchen or formal spaces, and how large certain rooms should be — the Johnsons let Jones’ creativity run as wild as an African cat. “We gave Eddie a blank sheet of paper,” Warren says. “It was his canvas and he drew whatever.”
Apart from a few little inputs — like not wanting a big kitchen or formal spaces, and how large certain rooms should be — the Johnsons let Jones’ creativity run as wild as an African cat. “We gave Eddie a blank sheet of paper,” Warren says. “It was his canvas and he drew whatever.”
Sesasi, the couple’s other dog, an 80-pound Xoloitzcuintli, otherwise known as a Mexican hairless, stands on the roof.
Sometimes when she’s let out of the fenced-in area on the roof to a dogs-only play area, she hops a short wall and gets onto the roof.
“She runs, and I mean runs, around the roof practically a 360,” Becky says. “It sounds like thunder.”
Sometimes when she’s let out of the fenced-in area on the roof to a dogs-only play area, she hops a short wall and gets onto the roof.
“She runs, and I mean runs, around the roof practically a 360,” Becky says. “It sounds like thunder.”
Level Change
Jones calls this area the “greatest room,” a play on today’s popular open living spaces. It contains all the entertaining spaces — a living room, bar, kitchen and dining area.
As the pavilion-style roof gets wider, it gets closer to the ground, so Jones incorporated a level change in this area to create headroom.
The ceiling is 4-by-8-foot sheets of vertical-grain fir, laid like shingles, with a gap between the boards to hold LED strip lights. “I’m sick of recessed cans,” the architect says. “This way we get an incredible mitered ceiling, like a louvered ceiling, with light leaking out.”
Jones calls this area the “greatest room,” a play on today’s popular open living spaces. It contains all the entertaining spaces — a living room, bar, kitchen and dining area.
As the pavilion-style roof gets wider, it gets closer to the ground, so Jones incorporated a level change in this area to create headroom.
The ceiling is 4-by-8-foot sheets of vertical-grain fir, laid like shingles, with a gap between the boards to hold LED strip lights. “I’m sick of recessed cans,” the architect says. “This way we get an incredible mitered ceiling, like a louvered ceiling, with light leaking out.”
Brick makes up the floors, walls and other interior features. The black brick has a manganese additive that gives it a sort of blue iridescence in certain sunlight. “Like a tuxedo,” Jones says.
Large windows include custom black mesh screens that hold up to razor-sharp cat claws.
Large windows include custom black mesh screens that hold up to razor-sharp cat claws.
Samson stretches on a sectional in the living room.
Jones designed the large dining table, the top of which contains glass inserts and an amazing uplighted portion in the center made from glass vials (more on those later).
The Johnsons wanted a minimal kitchen, so the range and fridge were tucked behind a brick wall area to the left. “Becky and I told [Jones] we wanted a kitchen akin to a galley on a ship,” Warren says. “It’s fairly small but really efficient to work in.”
A pass-through window in the bar connects to an outdoor barbecue area. The door to the right of the kitchen also leads out there.
The Johnsons wanted a minimal kitchen, so the range and fridge were tucked behind a brick wall area to the left. “Becky and I told [Jones] we wanted a kitchen akin to a galley on a ship,” Warren says. “It’s fairly small but really efficient to work in.”
A pass-through window in the bar connects to an outdoor barbecue area. The door to the right of the kitchen also leads out there.
Jones designed most of the furniture in the home, including the Johnsons’ bed, which has hidden lights behind and under it. “I like adding that depth and dimension to an interior space,” Jones says. A TV rises out of the foot of the bed when desired. The door in the far left corner leads to a hot tub.
On the other side of the headboard wall is Warren’s closet. A staircase leads down to a basement that contains Becky’s closet and beds for the cats. The basement acts as a storm shelter during tornadoes, and it’s where the couple put the cats when they have visitors.
On the other side of the headboard wall is Warren’s closet. A staircase leads down to a basement that contains Becky’s closet and beds for the cats. The basement acts as a storm shelter during tornadoes, and it’s where the couple put the cats when they have visitors.
The master bathroom features lots of ⅜-inch-thick mosaic tile. “It really has a lot of dimension,” Jones says.
Samson likes to be wrapped like a burrito in a heated towel, lie on the bathroom floor and get petted, so the couple usually keep a towel ready on the warmer on the wall to the right.
Samson likes to be wrapped like a burrito in a heated towel, lie on the bathroom floor and get petted, so the couple usually keep a towel ready on the warmer on the wall to the right.
If you look up in the powder room, you might see some exotic cats staring down at you from the glass mezzanine. Yes, even when you’re on the toilet. “They’re a great laxative,” Jones says jokingly.
The mezzanine also has a skylight under which the Johnsons like to sit and look at the stars or storms developing over the prairie.
8 Things Successful Architects and Designers Do
8 Things Successful Architects and Designers Do
Dazzling Details
Warren is a geologist who spent 20 years in the oil and gas industry. Becky is a chemist and pharmacist. They bought and owned a drug manufacturing lab and ran that for 20 years before selling it about two years ago. The primary focus of the company was the diagnosis and treatment of allergies, such as for people allergic to dogs and cats, but the Johnsons expanded the company to produce other drugs as well.
One day, before they had sold the company, the couple took Jones on a tour of a warehouse. He saw literally millions of glass vials made for storing drugs and immediately knew he had to incorporate the vials into the house. “It’s the best glass you can get,” Jones says.
“Since it is used for sterile injectable drugs, the vials must go through extensive testing and validation,” Warren says. “They can be subjected to cryogenic temps so they must be tough. And, of course, there is the cosmetic consideration that requires the glass to be defect-free.”
For one application, Jones drilled holes in the bottoms of dozens of vials, strung them with piano wire and suspended them around a skylight, shown here, above the mezzanine. “It freezes the sunlight for a moment and there’s a beautiful sparkle hanging in midair,” he says.
He credits the inspiration for reusing the vials to architect Bruce Goff, whom Jones admires for seeing “beauty in everything.”
“Even things people throw away,” Jones says.
Warren is a geologist who spent 20 years in the oil and gas industry. Becky is a chemist and pharmacist. They bought and owned a drug manufacturing lab and ran that for 20 years before selling it about two years ago. The primary focus of the company was the diagnosis and treatment of allergies, such as for people allergic to dogs and cats, but the Johnsons expanded the company to produce other drugs as well.
One day, before they had sold the company, the couple took Jones on a tour of a warehouse. He saw literally millions of glass vials made for storing drugs and immediately knew he had to incorporate the vials into the house. “It’s the best glass you can get,” Jones says.
“Since it is used for sterile injectable drugs, the vials must go through extensive testing and validation,” Warren says. “They can be subjected to cryogenic temps so they must be tough. And, of course, there is the cosmetic consideration that requires the glass to be defect-free.”
For one application, Jones drilled holes in the bottoms of dozens of vials, strung them with piano wire and suspended them around a skylight, shown here, above the mezzanine. “It freezes the sunlight for a moment and there’s a beautiful sparkle hanging in midair,” he says.
He credits the inspiration for reusing the vials to architect Bruce Goff, whom Jones admires for seeing “beauty in everything.”
“Even things people throw away,” Jones says.
The vials appear again in the laundry room, where Jones created a gradient pattern using amber and clear glass. “I composed them flat on a table and let intuition carry through, thinking about how a vine would grow up a wall and dissipate or grow down in a random pattern,” he says.
A window in the guest house bathroom faces directly south, so Jones used all amber bottles knowing it would get full sun and turn that area to gold. “You step into a bath of gold light,” he says. “It’s beautiful.”
A window in the guest house bathroom faces directly south, so Jones used all amber bottles knowing it would get full sun and turn that area to gold. “You step into a bath of gold light,” he says. “It’s beautiful.”
In the study bathroom on the north side, more in the shade, Jones used all clear glass bottles to maximize the light.
On an exterior wall, wood slats cast sharp shadows reminiscent of, let’s say, cat fangs. Jones would like to say he planned the detail, but he relied more on intuition than anything else. “I’ve been doing this for a long time,” he says. “I’m not smart enough to ever predict how beautiful something can be. I know something is going to happen. And I’m always gratified and amazed at the impact of shadow or light between shadows. Most architects are like that. We’d love for people to think we are incredibly gifted. But we just know how to create opportunities for beautiful things to happen.”
Bring on the Brick
The Johnsons originally wanted a rammed-earth home. They had almost moved to Arizona, where rammed-earth homes are common, but decided against it. Instead, they thought they’d build an Arizona-style rammed-earth home in Oklahoma. “I really like the desert Southwest, the expansive views and the modern architecture that goes on out there,” Warren says.
But Jones, who’s based in Phoenix, said the clay soil in Oklahoma wouldn’t work for rammed-earth construction. Trucking in soil would have been too costly and go against the sustainability appeal of rammed-earth construction. Jones said they could get the same effect with stone or brick or poured concrete. “Oklahoma’s clay produces wonderful bricks quite capable of supporting roofs,” he says.
Near the driveway entrance to the carport, shown here, stands a replica statue of Alfonso Iannelli’s Sprite sculptures once found in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Midway Gardens in Chicago. “I like using them on projects,” Jones says. “There’s beautiful history behind them.”
The Johnsons originally wanted a rammed-earth home. They had almost moved to Arizona, where rammed-earth homes are common, but decided against it. Instead, they thought they’d build an Arizona-style rammed-earth home in Oklahoma. “I really like the desert Southwest, the expansive views and the modern architecture that goes on out there,” Warren says.
But Jones, who’s based in Phoenix, said the clay soil in Oklahoma wouldn’t work for rammed-earth construction. Trucking in soil would have been too costly and go against the sustainability appeal of rammed-earth construction. Jones said they could get the same effect with stone or brick or poured concrete. “Oklahoma’s clay produces wonderful bricks quite capable of supporting roofs,” he says.
Near the driveway entrance to the carport, shown here, stands a replica statue of Alfonso Iannelli’s Sprite sculptures once found in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Midway Gardens in Chicago. “I like using them on projects,” Jones says. “There’s beautiful history behind them.”
A cantilevered carport forms a horizontal plane over the brick driveway. “I never get to use brick in Arizona,” Jones says. “It’s more of a Midwest material. There are a lot of traditions with brick architecture, one of them being brick grillwork, something that goes back in history to Colonial homes, where masons developed a pattern of opening for cross-ventilation or light for surrounding gardens. So I looked for any excuse to use brick grillwork.”
Brick grills come up in walls that surround mechanical equipment that needs to breathe, seen to the far left in this photo. The garage brick grillwork, shown straight ahead, was supposed to be left open, but Jones ended up glassing it in. “I forgot about Oklahoma winters and dust and bugs, so we put glass in it,” he says.
Brick grills come up in walls that surround mechanical equipment that needs to breathe, seen to the far left in this photo. The garage brick grillwork, shown straight ahead, was supposed to be left open, but Jones ended up glassing it in. “I forgot about Oklahoma winters and dust and bugs, so we put glass in it,” he says.
The entrance to the home is a long approach to an 8-by-8-foot solid wood panel that pivots open and closed. Jones bought the bronze bells hanging to the left from Cosanti in Arizona as a housewarming gift to the Johnsons and to symbolize a doorbell.
LED lights hide in cavities above the walkway. “You can tell I had a lot of fun getting to design everything,” Jones says. “I loved doing this house. I was sorry when it was finished.”
LED lights hide in cavities above the walkway. “You can tell I had a lot of fun getting to design everything,” Jones says. “I loved doing this house. I was sorry when it was finished.”
Another Sprite replica stands at the end of a 16-inch-thick black brick wall that forms one of the axes.
A door off the atrium, to the right once you enter the home, leads to a walkway under the rooftop cat playground and connects to the guest house, which, when you have exotic cats roaming about, is worth making detached. That way visitors who forget to shut their door won’t have to worry about their suitcase being shredded. During a stay at the Johnsons’ previous home, the girlfriend of Ross, Warren’s grown son from a previous marriage, had her new Ugg boots shredded by Samson.
This view of the house from the lap pool shows the pavilion.
Find an architect to make your dream house come true
Find an architect to make your dream house come true
The floor plan for the Johnson home shows the lap pool extending straight up, the great room on the upper left, the master bedroom on the upper right, the guest house at the far right and the detached study in the bottom left quadrant.
The Johnsons now own and run a lab where they plan to produce a key amino acid for premature babies. They are awaiting FDA approval and hope to bring the drug to market in a couple of years.
Becky is an avid tennis player and is on several boards in town, including that of the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Warren recently bought his 85-year-old father’s oil and gas company and is expanding that. He’s also a Learjet captain.
The Johnsons now own and run a lab where they plan to produce a key amino acid for premature babies. They are awaiting FDA approval and hope to bring the drug to market in a couple of years.
Becky is an avid tennis player and is on several boards in town, including that of the Oklahoma State Department of Health. Warren recently bought his 85-year-old father’s oil and gas company and is expanding that. He’s also a Learjet captain.
Warren enjoys mowing the grass and taking care of the property himself. Jones designed a barn near the house to store equipment for that purpose. This is one of his sketches of the barn, with the main house in the background.
There’s also a horse barn on the property that’s home to the Johnsons’ five Tennessee walking horses, two of which are pregnant.
“We are big animal lovers,” Warren says. “And we like our dream space.”
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There’s also a horse barn on the property that’s home to the Johnsons’ five Tennessee walking horses, two of which are pregnant.
“We are big animal lovers,” Warren says. “And we like our dream space.”
More
Design Workshop: The Beauty of Humble Materials
Architect’s Toolbox: 6 Drawings on the Way to a Dream Home
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Wow wow wow what a creation. Must be marvellous to live in. Love the cats and dogs and the thoughtful provision for their enjoyment.
This article showcases my love for architecture. This architect is clearly a visionary and is great at understanding his customer. He is in company with Frank Lloyd Wright and Eichler. I can envision his work here, in California. His lighting ideas were innovative. The vial chandelier grabbed me. Reminds me of a rain shower in the sunlight. I love his ceiling was not your everyday ‘run of the mill’ and how he incorporated the lighting in it.
I had some mixed feelings about the exotic cats featured and incorporated into the home, but that cannot detract from what this architect has created, this is about his masterpiece. Thank you for giving us the backstory to this great artistic expression.