Hi there,

We are moving into our first, and long-awaited, house next week, and need to supply a fridge as it does not have one now. It has to be counter-depth as the space is small, and we'll likely go with the KitchenAid Architect II, 73".

The bigger issue is the range. The house now has a big gas Caloric that looks to be from the early 70s--no idea whether/how it works, and either way it's pretty dreary. It looks as though it has an integrated hood that vents to the outside. I'm inclined to get a new range, BUT the other issue is that both because we're broke for now and because this house is perfectly preserved we don't plan to modify the kitchen until we can think carefully about how to do it. It looks like a shorpy picture now: no counters or cupboards, just built-ins in a room. Very 1911.

So, and thanks for reading this far, I have two choices: deal with what's there/get the cheapest possible replacement to tide us over; or buy something nice that we'll keep forever and work into whatever we do later. I'm leaning toward the latter path but not sure if it's crazy. All that said, here's what I'm looking for:

--36", all gas, 5 or 6 burner

--cook a lot, wok never, bake some, but when I do it's more cookies than souffles

--cook daily and well, but with 3 small kids I'm not doing much fancy

--prefer sealed burners (I think)

--don't think I need the power of a BlueStar or Capital, though intrigued by the latter based on comments here

--prefer mechanical over electric, LED, etc.

--more interested in value than prestige, (though sometimes those align)

--like the burner grates to be smooth so I can slide pans around (silly I know)

--want to use this for a long time--it's for me, not resale

I love the look of the Bertas but the oven is just too small for me, so I've ruled those out. I like the look of the Thermador, Wolf and Viking, and the Wolf's reputation of solidness and customer service is very appealing. I've heard that they get very hot, though, which worries me with little ones. I thought the GE Monogram looked nice. Electrolux too but the burners just seemed too shallow to use multiple burners.

Last week I was all set to get a Berta sight unseen, but once I checked them out live and read more I find myself more rather than less certain. Any opinions as to what you'd recommend based on what I've written here? Thanks for slogging through my long post.