Igloochic- Hi! I haven't seen you in a long time. Great to see you back...and your project sounds charming and wonderful :)

Looking forward to seeing your progress! Do you have a fireplace, in the kitchen? Are you having an eating area, besides the island?

Igloo, I remember one Victorian that had left some very old cabs in the kitchen. They were painted white with crescent (1/4) moon cut out in the top of doors.

Did you see this thread? Worth a close read.

Igloochic,

I was puzzled by your term "Registered" - does that mean National Historic Register or a locally-controlled Historic District Designation with exterior constraints?

Because if it's the former, you can actually do anything, including calling in backhoes to tear it down without penalty. Local HD regs can vary, but seldom go beyond preserving historic facades and restricting uses through zoning. You may have more freedom, at least from a legal angle, than you imagine.

Anyway, can't help much as my own period Victorian Kitchen is a completely unfitted one with no fixtures beyond a wooden sink with a pitcher pump (and even that was undoubtedly a reno, since the house itself predates the well/cistern). It has wood floors (fir strip over earlier 5/4 wide pine.) Tall wainscotting with vertical T&G of variable width with beaded edge (48" high) and thick bullnose above, with plaster walls from there to ceiling. Cupboards and work tables were removable -and were - so no joy there. Hole in the wall for chimney flue. Large cast-iron, wood-fired range, still in use when we purchased in late 80's, now stored in barn awaiting the cataclysms of Peak Oil when it will gloatingly displace the 48" double-oven pro-style range that usurped it.

Pending the Range Restoration, I'm stickin' with propane, though.

Late Vict. kitchens weren't meant for pleasure or delight since one didn't pay the hired girls to have fun, or have any easy life on the job. You can either go with a kind of early 20th c faux Victoriana or stick to the historically correct hard-labor approach. Or you can abandon reality and aim for the Downton Abbey, Upside/Downside kitchen-esque look.

I just want a nice clean and highly functional workspace as I am my own kitchen maid/hired girl. And since I know exactly what will make the kitchenmaid/hired girl in my house happy, I'm going to oblige -or at least my DH is going to oblige. (I have reminded him how hard it is to keep help thse days!) I've got tons of Victoriana elsewhere in the house so I feel no need to fake it in the kitchen. And for sure I'd flounce off the job if I had to actually get meals out in a real "Victorian Kitchen" as was in this house throughout the dear old gal's reign.

HTH,
L.

The upcoming Steampunk Design Around This thread might also produce something useful for you, since Steampunk combines contemporary technologies with Victorian design. Hopefully we'll see some good Victorian elements in the designs. I think it's starting this weekend...

Oh, it's so nice to see your name again, Igloo! Have you done any work in the last couple of years? Is this the house in WA? Did you ever post any finished pics? Sorry I'm no help but I surrrrrre would like to see finished pictures!

I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but your description reminded me of this Country Living, "Victorian Kitchen at Christmas" link. Hope this gives you some fun ideas :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to Country Living

Just saying hi Igloochic, old pal o'mine! Great that you're back in these parts.
Casey

This website really focuses more on an arts and crafts kitchen but it discusses how they differ from Victorian kitchens. A fun read, anyway.

Here is a link that might be useful: historic kitchens link

Crown Point does the whole look updated. I'd consult with them.

I believe I learned about this on this forum last fall, but here it is again -- the couple in England who discovered an untouched Victorian kitchen in their basement.

Here is a link that might be useful: Untouched Victorian kitchen

The divider line on design choices will be if this is to be a nod more to the actual servant's production kitchen that the any truly large home would have had, or more of a nod to the cottage style kitchen that those of less means who had to "do" for themself would have had. The intersecting point between the two will not be the overly ornate style that most associate with Victorian style.

Actual Victorian kitchens may have had some decorative details from the actual infrastructure or the "modern" mechanical elements introduced at the time, but they were characterized more by their simplicity so as to be easy to produce those 12 course meals and then clean up from them. I think it is an excellent suggestion to explore the Steampunk movement to give the kitchen some whimsy. I can see a large brass samovar being retrofitted with the innards of a Insinkerater Instahot as well as actual gas lamps being used for illumination in some areas.

Modern planning around zones is a big echo as to how Victorians organized the food preparation space than the popularized "kitchen triangle" style of assessing your layout. A larder and scullery area aren't exactly practical for how we use our kitchens today, but you can take some inspiration from both to integrate into the different zones you will need.

We need PICTURES! How dare you come in here without them! LOL! This has to be the great gramma of all "before" shots for your ultimate transformation photo album. There are a lot of folks that would love to live this reno vicariously through you. (Will this possibly be a real Christopher Peacock kitchen?) I know that I would never have the budget to even attempt a 1/10 quality restoration of what you've dealt with on the home and I really look forward to seeing any results you are willing to share. It's always satisfying to see something done right rather than the all more common compromise for budget's sake. :)

Hey Igloo,

Great to see you back here! And, I am waiting with bated breath, as I'm sure many of us are, to see what you do this time around! Definitely want to ditto LWO's request for a share of some "before" pix (even though I do know you previously posted a few). This one is going to be fun!

I thought the range was going in the hearth? Or whatever that alcove is?

When I think Victorian era, grand American kitchen, I think of a big stone sink (limestone probably), a pump, tiled sinkboards, tall cupboards (armoirs) and dressers for storage, great big sturdy table with stout legs all bleached out from scrubbing, stone or quarry tile floor, soot marks, some wall mounted shelves, a big spit, a pie safe, an icebox. Scullery with a huge trough sink like Sabjimata's.

If you want to do a post-millenial update to the tall cupboards, look at Bulthaup b2.

LOL what a fun read :) Ok to answer all comments...

Hey Lav :) Glad to see you still around (ok that's for everyone who's been here more than a few years). I know you're a victorian lover at heart so I expect lots of comments LOL

We don't have a fireplace...well to be fair, there was a large Monarch stove, but there is no way in heckfire that I am going to go to a wood cook stove in this lifetime (and likely not the next). We debated and debated about leaving it in, or taking it out, and finally gave up to the fact that even in this large space (around 20x20) a monarch range takes up a lot of real estate so it's gone to a good home for a cabin kitchen (and it was not original to the house, though it was probably similar to what was here). There will be no eating area in the kitchen as we have two dining rooms in the main house. Even the island won't be something you'd slide a stool up to.

Eandhl, I love the moon cut out idea. I remember those on my great auntie's bathroom (ok yes it was an outhouse LOL) but have never seen them inside!

Chicago...thank you so much for the links! I'm loving the DAT threads (which didn't exist formally in my GW day)

Marco...I am adoring some of the pics you have posted, including the pot rack of my dreams which I may have to buy now just in case I can't find it later LOL

Lir...so "registered" to me is the easy way to say registered to death. We are a nationally registered home which was awarded a grant for partial interior restoration of the main floors several years ago. It still carries a deed restriction because of that. Would I be thrown in jail if I didn't heed the deed? Well likely not, but the requirements aren't out of line with our feelings for the home anyhoo, so we comply. We are also in one of three victorian seaports in the nation in a nationally registered district which carries rules for the outside of the structure that are administered by the local district. Because our home is considered "pivotal" to the stregnth of the district (11 of the homes in the district are) we have an additional set of rules that apply to it's exterior. These are VERY stringent rules but once again, we actually are happy to apply. Then we have the "fear of ghosts" rules, which are applied at will when we do anything to the house because we don't want to peeve Mr. James off :O) I like to run any changes by him so he does not wake up and come visiting...so far so good LOL

But in reality, your range sounds as lovely as mine...and as fun to cook on LOL

We are looking to put in a kitchen that is a bit of a cross between a servants kitchen (which it would have been) and a kitchen in a big old home that has seen many transformations. I actually do not like the overly fancy victorian look that fell into being in the 80's (the 1980's) so don't expect fancy lace and flowers and lots of wood carving here. We will be much cleaner and utilitarian, but given that our servants seem to have gone missing from the house...we also have to have a kitchen that works. Our kitchen did have running water back in the day (hot and cold) that was on faucets, not pumps. It also had electricity, though I'm sure the lighting wouldn't have been terribly bright :) I will have an ice box...but under the wooden doors the heart of a sub zero will be beating strong LOL

Cawaps...I love steampunk and can't wait to see that thread. I think it has started because I saw something steam punk on the first page.

Sj :) Thanks! And I did post finished pics of the lake house, but gad that's been ages LOL I never did get the FKB done :( Life and the kiddo have gotten in the way. I did just post some though in the white kitchens post that you can peek at there.

Casey :) Your kitchen is one of my inspiration pics :) Ya it's kind of fun to have the kiddo in school and get to come back to GW and play. Now if I could only get the internet above the first floor...grrrr

colorfast, fun read! Thanks

rococo, I do like crown points photo's in all of the victorian or historic home magazines. I'm sure we'll be looking into their products more as we progress. I'm also toying with Peacock.

Lcm...OMG what a fabulous find and a great read. I loved that!

Live Wire:
So two kitchens. One is the gardeners kitchen in their cottage, so very simple and sparce and small as it's a cottage. I'll probably girl that one up a bit with some lace and other crap I wouldn't ever put in my main kitchen because it's basically just a guest room. My iron heart has always secretly desired a cute little house to turn into a doll house...so the cottage is my place for white, lace, whimsicle and so sweet it makes your cheeks hurt if you're a man. My iron heart would rather die than cook in that sea of white all day LOL

then the main kitchen....i think a "nod" to the clean lines of a production kitchen is actually a fairly reasonable description of what we're shooting for. I've been in a few that were not altered much and find that their zoning and simplicity actually make great sense in a large kitchen. I have a picture of a wonderful antique brass water heater hanging on the wall above the main sink that appears to be working, but will be for decor purposes only. Insinkerator WILL be in all sinks LOL but obviously hidden away. I'm thinking the main sink will have some what of a dry sink look to it. The island will actually be an old grocers counter on the side you see when entering the kitchen, but on the backside will be hiding a couple of refridgerator drawers and will hold a copper prep sink. I'm thinking that will be done in a later era so you get the "changed over the years" feel. We will have one wall of "fitted" cabinets surrounding the stove nook (which is an old stairway long removed and impracticle to replace). I'm hunting for an old pine cabinet but it may have to be custom, that will be on the old chimney wall, housing the recycling in the base and open to the ceiling (12 ft tall) to hold my antique bowls (which we use daily).

Ok pics to follow LOL Yes we are still toying with the Peacock idea. We have a contractor we would use for the structural work, and they would then come in and do the cabinetry install. Their work is pretty darned fabulous and they actually might be cheaper than using local folks through the only one contractor who could handle it from here (who also sees us as a never ending cash machine and is getting a bit cocky about pricing).

Thanks...we are going to do this "right". We love this old box and feel a great responsability to treat him with loving care. When we are done I don't want to have people walk in and say "oh you redid the whole thing" but instead I want them to say "wow it's amazing this all survived!". We'll see how I do :)

Martha...before pics to follow!

plllog, yup, range in the alcove that used to be the servants stairs. Gad I wish those were back, but given we don't have any servants and it's now a utility corridor...and would end in the middle of our bathroom...I have to let the stairs go :) No pump, but definately a faucet that looks appropriate, and yet somehow I also get a commercial quality sprayer out of it...I'm not sure where that exists but it must LOL. We have the stout legs on that well scrubbed table already, which reside on a fabulous butcher block from a sausage maker who operated at the turn of the century in Montana. :) I love that thing.

OK I'm going to post before I add pics just incase I screw up and lose this long post LOL

Igloo, On page 2 "cottonpenny" has a link to "Plain English" Under the tab "the longhouse, #4 has cabs with a cutout. Not the 1/4 moon but the idea. How is little igloo doing?

This is how it came to us two years ago:

now step out to the back porch....yes the rest of the kitchen is there:

I'm sure you can imagine the shear fun and excitement you experience when cooking over gas behind an active six year old's primary exit to the swing set! Not to mention you can only use the inside two burners because the others melt the paint on the wall....

Yes the oven opens up directly into the space one must travel to get from said busy door into the main house...safty last was the previous tenents motto :P Even more fun is that when the fridge is open you can't open up the back door...well you can but it results in door dings.

Just for fun...I found this piece of an antique lino carpet under the last drawer in an old cabinet...the balance of it may be residing under the horrible current plastic floor that always hides dirt well...because it looks like dirt :P

We do one huge project a year. Year one was the exterior gardens and yard. We have a six year old and a very stupid dog, so a fence was a MUST to keep the tourists out and the dog and child in. The gardens were also an unmanagible mess of wildflowers and pretty weeds. The previous owner had three full time staff on them...I have no full time staff and if I did they'd be doing laundry, not weeding LOL so I had to simplify the garden, and also wanted to make it feel more appropriate to the house. I worked with a lovely english man who helped me design an english manor house type garden complete with knot gardens for herby and a small boxwood maze. This of course is complimented by the non victorian swing set, but hey...real people live here and it's only temporary :)

From this:

To this:

The raised platform will hold a summer house:

And I'd show more but I can't seem to get the photobucket upload to work today :(

We also updated the mechanicals this year...an expensive but not sexy project :) Two commercial heat exchangers and a million miles of hidden duct work and the house is now just about warm on a cold winters day :)

Lovely old house & gardens; the existing kitchen - typical of a 'renovation' by someone without a clue about design. I've lived in several of these rentals & even had a floor once that looked exactly like your 'but it hides dirt so well' vinyl.

From what I can see of the floorplan you have your work cut out for you but I'm sure you'll figure out a way to make this an attractive yet working kitchen. Often, a little efficiency has to be sacrificed to keep an existing, historic footprint & features but it's worth it in the end.

Looking forward to following the process.

Forgot to say how much I like the magnetic held knives on the wall next to the door - with the edges toward the door no less! Perfect accident for someone looking for a light switch in the dark.

Either Crown Point or Peacock would be able to give you a gorgeous design while you could concentrate on options. With the porch addition there are abundant solutions space wise. Very exciting project that could enhance your lovely house even more. I also could see a couple of amazing old pieces worked in or motifs from the house like the found linoleum "rediscovered" in some fashion. Our DD has a Peacock kitchen in new apt. Well thought out, but more modern than most. No complaints. Did take a very close look at CP cabinets at the last show I attended. I'm super critical on those but the detailing & quality was excellent. They also have a hand-finished milk paint finish that is quite special.

I could so see using that lino scrap as the inspiration for the space. A teal free standing china cabinet to house the dishes and very period appropriate tan monochromatic cabinets and walls, with soapstone counters and sink. An old worn black separate piece with butcher block top. And wouldn't that red be great for a floor in Marmoleoum!

You gotta frame a scrap of that for artwork!

I understand simplifying the gardens, but that shot with the iris "before" is so charming. I hope some of them made into the newly organized beds. And the ocean view is to die for!

This is gonna be a GREAT project to watch unfold!

Antique silver (remind me to share pics of the lawyers cabinets I am trying to fill with silver lol) I never thought about those knifes the way you did. They came down day one because we have a small child...and because they were dull as butter knives lol

That back porch is original to the structure and will be a much needed mud room (probably more for me than the kid and dog).

Rococo, thank you for the cabinet recommendations. I'll be sure to talk with crown point. It's nice to hear from someone who has seen them. As well as the peacock cabs, which I've researched to death. I do like their people. Customer service is job one there as far as ive seen.

Holly that scrap will be saved and unfortunately after trying to find a replacement I have found that its just not possible. You will be happy though to hear that in the servants dining room (right off the kitchen where we eat most meals) I did find a nos linoleum carpet for the floor in turquoise, pink, gold and blue. That china cabinet you are picturing (and the one in the current nook) will be restored with appropriate drawers and a turquoise paint job inside its white exterior to house my white ware collection (ok I have one piece but I have a couple of years to work on it). That large piece will be put in the servant's dining room which wil be done in similar colors to the "carpet". Very soft and sweet, 1930s and 40s feel under the alabaster light fixture and white tin painted ceiling that remain from the days it was built. We will also have a butlers pantry between the kitchen and the main dinng room for the china and silver and stuff one feels one must horde if they have a Victorian :).

As to the gardens....I couldn't get the current pics to load. All viable plants and bulbs were saved and relocated around the property. Now when you walk between the gardeners cottage and the main house you do so through a sea of hyacInths which progress through the season to a taller sea of iris complimented by fall hydrengea and roses that bloom through the summer. Not a bulb went to waste.

The bad thing about the pic you were charmed by is that the wind knocked the late summer blooming iris down with the first wind far before their blooms were spent. Their new location protects them from that sea "breeze" (monsoon) and allows them to last through the season. I've replaced them in that old location with paniculata hydrengeas which seem to like a good beating from the wind and don't mind the harsh sun in that location. They are all happy :).

On a side gardening note....we found mr James diary and he particularly loved hydrangea and peonies so the current gardens are filled with over 60 different varieties of hydrangas and around 30 peony types. He isn't haunting me so I think he likes them lol

Igloochic, your gardens are beautiful. Love the boxwoods amidst the patio. Softens it up so, just like a victorian garden I would think.

Your lake house kitchen was the first I saw on GW. Your LaCanche and mom2fourkids, and a few others led me to order that first thing.
I know that you love your Lacanche, as I love mine, but do take a look at the thread I just posted on that Molteni range. That thing has Victorian written all over it, and I am just crazed by the fact she is only asking $13,000. (She paid over 33 I think?)
But, on the other hand a Lacanche will look just as fabulous!
Can't wait to see your planning and moving forward. Is that this years project or next? You may have told, I don't remember.

Welcome back! I so remember your previous kitchen and it was one of the many that also turned me on to the Lacanche, which we'll be getting for a new build. Although at this point I'm calling it the "old build" because the planning has taken so long and we've hit so many road bumps, well the idea is now rather old!
I can't wait to see the outcome of this project, the views are gorgeous and there is so much character and detail to work with. Keep us posted!

Igloo, by all means please share photos of the lawyers' cabinets for your silver. American silver from the 1880's to about 1915 was considered the best in the world so your grand house is the perfect backdrop to showcase a collection of that era.

A local, slightly younger, Beau Arts mansion was on tour prior to restoration a few years ago & the kitchen (or what was left of it) included a large built-in vault, presumeably for the silver - about the size of double refrigerator/freezer units but deeper. Now that's a serious collector!