Historic Kitchen renovation, resale, and other questions
 

1.If you were buying a house in an historic district of a city, how
would you consider the following in a purchase - great potential or bad
resale? (Keeping in mind that someone who would buy such a house is
interested in the historic aspect)


2. As a cook, how would you view it?


1890s "folk victorian' house. We're totally renovating the interior and
restoring the exterior. The kitchen has been gutted. It's 13x13ft - not
too small, not huge. 3 door ways, one to a walk-in pantry, one to a
butler's pantry with shaker style cabinets built in (which leads into
the next room, a den, dining room is off to the other side). It's also
got two windows, one 5 feet tall and starting about 3 ft from the
floor.

In looking at modern cabinets and counters to install, even shaker
style ones which would fit, they just look overwhelming. It makes the
kitchen look like it's the Land of Cabinets. While I like modern
kitchens and normally don't think that in most homes, maybe it's the
space limitations or the house style that makes it look silly.


So am thinking of rather than building modern cabinets, using movable
period pieces - like standing cabinets, baker's rack & hutch, butcher's
block table for an island, etc. We don't like the all matchy matchy
look, so these would be differing units, not meant to go together
necessarily. Differing colours. We'd still need some cabinets - will
have a dishwasher and built in oven. We're living with NO counter space
now and want to maximize it, but I think between the butcher's block
and counters for what cabinets ARE there, it could be sufficient.

*We aren't trying to 'restore' the kitchen to authenticity, but DO want
it to fit with the house.

We're both foodies, but live with 'less is more'. That DH is European
helps in that regard ;-). We also have 12 ft ceilings, so where there
ARE modern cabinets added, they'll go higher (probably 40-46in on top).


Also, I've fallen inlove with a dirt cheap antique stove. It's working,
but needs to be finished. As it's cast iron we need to make sure it'll
not fall through the floor in our pier and beam foundation house, but
once finished will be gorgeous AND functional.


If only for us, we'd go for it. Our concern is resale - we're likely to
move away in 5 years, and hope to make a decent profit off this house.
We're doing EVERYTHING (it was bordering on being a tear down), not
just the kitchen, but that's a big part of resale.


So, would you look at it and think "I can work with this, get rid of
that, etc etc" and find the lack of attached cabinets an asset to a
personal remodel, or would you think "No way."?

wrote:

> 1.If you were buying a house in an historic district of a city, how
> would you consider the following in a purchase - great potential or bad
> resale? (Keeping in mind that someone who would buy such a house is
> interested in the historic aspect)
>
>
> 2. As a cook, how would you view it?
>
>
> 1890s "folk victorian' house. We're totally renovating the interior and
> restoring the exterior. The kitchen has been gutted. It's 13x13ft - not
> too small, not huge. 3 door ways, one to a walk-in pantry, one to a
> butler's pantry with shaker style cabinets built in (which leads into
> the next room, a den, dining room is off to the other side). It's also
> got two windows, one 5 feet tall and starting about 3 ft from the
> floor.
>
> In looking at modern cabinets and counters to install, even shaker
> style ones which would fit, they just look overwhelming. It makes the
> kitchen look like it's the Land of Cabinets. While I like modern
> kitchens and normally don't think that in most homes, maybe it's the
> space limitations or the house style that makes it look silly.
>
>
> So am thinking of rather than building modern cabinets, using movable
> period pieces - like standing cabinets, baker's rack & hutch, butcher's
> block table for an island, etc. We don't like the all matchy matchy
> look, so these would be differing units, not meant to go together
> necessarily. Differing colours. We'd still need some cabinets - will
> have a dishwasher and built in oven. We're living with NO counter space
> now and want to maximize it, but I think between the butcher's block
> and counters for what cabinets ARE there, it could be sufficient.
>
> *We aren't trying to 'restore' the kitchen to authenticity, but DO want
> it to fit with the house.
>
> We're both foodies, but live with 'less is more'. That DH is European
> helps in that regard ;-). We also have 12 ft ceilings, so where there
> ARE modern cabinets added, they'll go higher (probably 40-46in on top).
>
>
> Also, I've fallen inlove with a dirt cheap antique stove. It's working,
> but needs to be finished. As it's cast iron we need to make sure it'll
> not fall through the floor in our pier and beam foundation house, but
> once finished will be gorgeous AND functional.
>
>
> If only for us, we'd go for it. Our concern is resale - we're likely to
> move away in 5 years, and hope to make a decent profit off this house.
> We're doing EVERYTHING (it was bordering on being a tear down), not
> just the kitchen, but that's a big part of resale.
>
>
> So, would you look at it and think "I can work with this, get rid of
> that, etc etc" and find the lack of attached cabinets an asset to a
> personal remodel, or would you think "No way."?
>

You have a butler's pantry full of cupboards for storing the china, so
you don't need cupboards for that...

If you have a pantry for food storage you won't need kitchen space for
that... Do you? Here in the UK older houses often do.

Do you have a laundry room elsewhere? Is there room in the butler's
pantry for a dishwasher?

Make the kitchen COOKING space and keep storage to a minimum. I'd want
a dishwasher somewhere, and a BIIIIIG sink. I'd like a nice table to
work at. Open shelves and hanging racks are good for storing pots and
stuff in constant use, but no good for keeping dust off things you use
less often. I'd want lots of power points for things like the food
processors and the blender. If you actually like cooking, ignore the
antique stove and buy a modern one with retro styling.

--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

No kitchen space necessary for food, the pantry is big enough.

Laundry room is in the bathroom, so no need for that (I know it's
common in the UK to put the washing machine in the kitchen).

No room in the butler's pantry for the dishwasher, but we'll put it in
the kitchen. We will need *some* cabinets added, just trying to
minimize that.

We're re-wiring so definitely putting 1-2 power points per wall.

No on the pot racks. I love the look, but our current house is a major
dust collected and I suspect our new one will be too (we don't like
using the a/c, so leave windows open a lot).

We need counter space for working, but don't use a lot of appliances -
and at least won't leave them on the counter.

Thanks for the advice!

>
> We're re-wiring so definitely putting 1-2 power points per wall.

Always put in one more than you think you could ever possibly need. Also,
make sure you put in split outlets...that is, each half of each double
outlet is on its own circuit, so you can plug in the kettle and the
breadmaker at the same time, into the same double outlet.

Cheers
CJ Adams
Arte et Marte

CJ Adams wrote:

>>We're re-wiring so definitely putting 1-2 power points per wall.
>
>
> Always put in one more than you think you could ever possibly need. Also,
> make sure you put in split outlets...that is, each half of each double
> outlet is on its own circuit, so you can plug in the kettle and the
> breadmaker at the same time, into the same double outlet.
>
> Cheers
> CJ Adams
> Arte et Marte
>
>
We have 11 visible above the counter tops in a kitchen 17' by 6'.
Sometimes it isn't enough... there are 3 more hidden ones for the
dishwasher, fridge, & oven.

--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!