What would you do if you walked into a house with a kitchen like this? I’d jump for joy. My dream kitchen, found at last.
Of all rooms in an old house, kitchens are probably the least likely to retain any of their historic features. Ever the functional and symbolic heart of the home, they have a lot of weight to pull. Transformational shifts in technology and lifestyle show up in the kitchen first. They play an important cultural role – we use them to project who we are or aspire to be. They are a major selling point in real estate. Even historic house museums have started including kitchens on their tours, a trend that makes me positively quiver with excitement.
As “quaint” as it might seem to our 21st-century eyes, the kitchen above is a far cry from the open hearth of colonial times. No rocking chairs or crackling fires here. This is a machine for food preparation, with hot and cold water supply, artificial light, and a relatively compact stove (with ventilation hood) used exclusively for cooking. Built-ins provide efficient storage, while the freestanding sinks and island sit on legs surrounded by tile. In the dawning age of “home economics”, it is a complete sanitary system.
“Modern” and yet so different from most kitchens today. The image above comes from a restored 1898 house, but the kitchen is 21st-century all the way. Over decades, the push towards efficiency led to more built-in cabinets, countertops, integrated appliances. By the 1940s, most kitchens were fully “fitted”. By the 1980s and 90s, some of the hard edges were softened with rich wood, brick and stone, but the basic template was the same – the “work triangle” was deeply ingrained. Plus, the increasingly fluid, casual lifestyles that called for open floor plans brought the kitchen back to hearth mode as central living spaces in the home.
In an interesting (and welcome) aesthetic twist, something like my dream kitchen seems to be having a renaissance now. We’re seeing more freestanding fixtures and furniture, gleaming tile and metal but also antique wood. The English brand DeVOL, for example, offers an enchanting amalgam of modern and ancient, inspired by kitchens in Georgian houses and medieval castles.
Kitchens have come a long way from the messy, smelly, dangerous places that, for good reason, were kept as far apart from the rest of the house as possible. And kitchen style seems to have landed (for the moment) in a place that romances the character and quirks of old houses. For advice on sourcing vintage (and vintage-looking) fixtures, see my previous post on bathrooms, since many of the same tips apply.
AUTHOR KATE WOOD grew up criss-crossing the country in the family’s Volkswagen Bus, visiting house museums, battlefields, Main Streets, and national parks. Today, she is an award-winning preservationist, real estate broker and principal of the full-service historic rehabilitation consulting firm, Worth Preserving. Kate believes in the essential value of old-building stewardship to sustain community character. For her, each property is a cause and each client a fellow advocate. She specializes in matching people with properties, skilled contractors, historic tax credits and other benefits to support top-tier rehabilitation projects.
