The kitchen of this house started as a summer kitchen, itself an addition to the original stone farmhouse that was installed in about 1875. The existing kitchen made the best of less-than-optimal space. The original windows were tall, narrow and awkwardly spaced. Previous owners worked as best as best as they could within those constraints, but the room still lacked natural light and optimal work space.
Rethinking this kitchen involved revisiting the essentials of what makes a great kitchen in the first place. Often that starts with the kitchen sink, optimally centred under an expansive window that lets in natural light and provides a view of the outside while you work.
Building a kitchen window meant starting with significant stone work on the exterior of the house. Masons removed and extensively rebuilt the wall to create a large enough window opening. Stones were carefully selected to fill in the old window opening and frame the new opening, and a new stone sill was installed to anchor the opening and support the new window.
This foundational work allowed a significant reinvention of the layout of the kitchen to take advantage of the significant area now available. The window substantially opens up light and space, and a farmhouse sink centred below it anchors the room.
Appliances are logically laid out in proximity to work surfaces, significantly improving flow during meal preparation. Even with a larger opening from the kitchen into the main entrance hall, there was significant available wall space for cabinetry. Extensive counters provide ample work space all around the kitchen. The expansive island holds the gas cooktop and includes not just functional workspace but also supports seating for eating or entertaining while the host cooks.
The resulting is spacious, open and inviting. No longer closed off and separate from rest of the house, the room now exerts a gravitational pull that strongly proves out why all parties ultimately wind up in the kitchen.