Kitchen Renovation                Return to floorplan

This room was originally a summer kitchen and butler pantry.  In about 1910, it was expanded out the back of the house and winterized to be the full time kitchen.  This was a very dreary room and a major drawback for the house.  The ceiling was only 7 ft. high in order not to interfere with the windows of the entry foyer.  The original stairs and porch had a large landing for ice delivery through a small door in the side wall.  The 1910 expansion was done with great care with pilasters and ionic capitals matching the rest of the house.  From blueprints, we know there was originally a door from the entry foyer (visible at entry hall page in the photo of the stripping mahogany handrail)  with stairs to the roof deck of the kitchen which was completely enclosed with a balustrade (see exterior projects).  A huge 5 ft whole house fan was added in the 50's and housed in a giant box sitting on the kitchen roof and accessed via this door.  When this was removed during this rehab, a new window, old brick and lintel were added to blend in with the adjacent facade.

This was the most ambitious of all the renovation projects.  Replacing the roof with a low pitch commercial solarium roof that wouldn't interfere with the entry windows was a breakthrough idea.  This added great light and much needed height (to over 9 ft).  A steel I beam structure had to be constructed to support the 200 sq.ft. skylight assembly.  The giant radiators had to be replaced with under cabinet heating to reclaim needed wall space.  All the cabinets were built in Tomorrows Heirlooms shop in the carriage house.  The floor was laid in a marble and granite design that mirrored the skylight opening.  Finally, a 4 ton air conditioner was dedicated to handle the heat load from the glass skylight.  This is now probably the nicest  room in the house.

Butler pantry side before	Kitchen side before	Giant house fan
Kitchen "gutted"	North wall	New wiring
New plumbing (notice joints where addition was "sistered" on)	Roof coming off	Steel I beams to hold skylight
Insulation	Construction of skylight	Skylight skeleton
Blake and Steve installing cabinets	Marble & granite  floor installation	New under cabinet radiators
Corian countertop installation	Final plumbing hookup	Joyce unpacking for Christmas
Blake installing trim	Joyce ready to paint	Skylight from above
Steve installing new window replacing fan door	Kitchen today	Butler pantry today