Lacanche :) But I'd have gone bigger ;) I have a Cluny 1400 and I love her. She's powerful and gorgeous :) And costs about as much as a dual fuel Wolf (ok a little more...but it's not too far off).

I could have had anything, and passed over LaCornue (I don't actually think they're very pretty) and Molteni (a range I would have if I could have a much larger kitchen) then chose Lacanche. If I had room for a french island range, molteni would be number one, but for any other kitchen, Lacanche all the way :o)

Whoops, helps if I put the right link in the right spot!

Here is a link that might be useful: French Ranges

I liked those Diva's, then I wonder- how much? They look good and have powerful burners (I went to their website).

hi,

If money were no object I would go for Le Cornue Fe or Lacanche. Both gorgeous, imo.

The Diva De Provence in your link... with knobs on only one side looks unbalanced to me and while definitely an attractive range, the others were better looking to me. this is aside of functioning which I know little about.

Check out this finished kitchen link. It is a galley kitchen with a Le Cornue Fe and absolutely stunning.

I think you are right that the range/hood would make a nice centerpiece for your kitchen and you could certainly find ways to make up the cost elsewhere in your budget. Cabinetry is a place to do this...many people on these boards seem to have success finding a local cabinetmaker to build for them which in some cases results in substantial savings.

Good Luck ... keep your dream alive!

Here is a link that might be useful: AMAZING GW kitchen link

If money were no object, I would get the Lacanche. Just a gorgeous range. Unfortunately a french range would never fit in my tiny kitchen without blowing out the back wall and adding on several feet of real estate. When the kids are through college, I can have my $$$$$$ dream forever kitchen.

laxsupermom -- A Lacanche Cormatin is only 27" wide :-)

I'm confused. I've always thought Molteni was considered the elite of French ranges, so why is everyone more interested in Lacanche. I will be researching ranges soon (my current tinyy kitchenaid cooktop will be hitting the road veryy soon) and it seems everyone is obsessed with Lacanche? Why?
I would like some facts on quality. From what I understand Lacanche is the only French range that doesn't have built in support (there is probably a technical name for this but I don't know it) so why all the hype?
If you are going to purchase a French range, you are already settled on spending a good deal of money. I am more concerned about getting the best quality for my money. The appearance? I feel like it doesn't matter which French range I get (when thinking about appearance) because some of them will do custom work, and a lot of them LOOK similar.
{{!gwi}} La Cornue Chateau Range

{{!gwi}} Molteni Classic Range

{{!gwi}} Diva De Provence Range

Look similar, no?

I want to know about the quality; not the look. Any experts? If money really isn't an issue.. unbiased information on these ranges please.

Amazing. I just went through all of the links in this series of posts, and I find it odd that the original poster was offering a blog site that sounds like the author actually knows what the hell they are talking about. Lacanche is surely a good stove, but after reading this I find it hard to believe that anyone would pick it over a Molteni or a Diva or a La Cornue or a Delaubrac for that matter.
I AM VERY CONFUSED!

Here is a link that might be useful: Here is the website the poster was referring to

La Cornue, without question: La Caaaahhhnnnnnshshshsh is the ugly step sister in comparison.

If cost was literally no object I would design a kitchen around a small one-hole water cooled Chinese wok range with a zillion BTU burner, a super powered hood to exhaust the smoke and steam, and a properly engineered heat exchanging makeup air system to make it usable year round. I'd need a normal range too, and I honestly don't know how I could improve on our 24" BlueStar in what would be a very commercial looking kitchen.

If cost was no object for me, I would hire Todd English and have him cook for me four meals a day (why limit myself to three?) on whatever stove he wanted.

Seriously, you said you have a small galley kitchen. Could your kitchen handle one of these powerful stoves? Could your cabinets take the heat generated by it. Could YOU take the heat generated by it? Would you have adequate ventilation? Do you really need such a powerful stove? Do you prepare all your meals in such a manner that this type of powerful stove would be necessary? Could your budget stand this splurge and would you be content to spend the remaining balance on what ever cabs, counters, flooring, lighting, other appliances, etc., you still need? Do you want more of the French country look or something more modern? Lots of questions but they are something to ask yourself so you don't go crazy trying to figure this out. Stoves are very personal things. Ask 100 people which are the best or their favorite and you will probably get 100 different answers.

For me, I guess I am too practical. If I can't have Todd and could spend $$$ on a stove and had the space (I too have a small kitchen), I would probably look at a 36 inch stove (my small kitchen can only fit a 30 inch). While I love the French stoves and Aga's and I might check out a Godin, I probably would go with a Gagg, DCS, Dacor or an antique Garland. Garland's BTW are the stove that Julia Child had...

Note that the OP hasn't been back, and the blog that was linked to was just created. Hmmm. Sounds similar to "Experienced KD will answer all questions." Maybe wildfire_mickey isn't selling anything, but it seems to me s/he is trying to get traffic to the french ranges blog mentioned under false pretenses.

Here is a link that might be useful: KDinCA thread link

If I could splurge on the range, I would go with the LaCanche. I liked the Volnay with the warming cabinet next to the oven. Love, love, love, love that range. Strangely it can fit anywhere -- traditional, eclectic, modern.

oruboris- I agree.

Mustbnuts- GREAT advice for anyone deciding on a range. Thank you.

rmc, to be honest, money wasn't an issue for me in choosing a range, but size was, which is why I went with Lacanche. No it's not a Molteni (my first choice) nor a La Cornue (compared to the Molteni....Molteni would win hands down over La Cornue in my opinion for both style, and definately price). The Lacanche is a heavy, well built range, better built than say a Wolf, (more style...less gadgets) but you're right, they're factory assembly built to a great extent. Molteni and La Cornue are both built for the buyer, and they're a great deal heavier construction.

But in the space I had, a molteni would only have included one oven. Definately plenty of cooking power on top, but I wanted more than one oven. With Lacanche I was able to get two ovens and a warming cupboard out of the deal in the space I had.

SO I guess I answered my answer because on the range budget, money wasn't an object, but space was. In an unlimited space...a molteni island range would be my first choice :) But that's the kind of range you build a house around...not a kitchen around heh heh

Nope, not selling anything, just busy doing things like... life... cooking... raising kids.

Thanks to all of you who've actually CONTRIBUTED to this discussion, instead of musing on my economic status.

As to the could my kitchen handle it... I wouldn't want one of the mondo huge ranges, I'd be happy with a 30" or below, and yes, I think I could handle it just fine! :D

Whether or not my budget could handle it is a different story. Maybe its just me, but I don't necessarily think everything needs to be granite and marble to be classy. There's nothing wrong with having one really neat and impressive center to the room, with the rest of the components complementing it rather than competing with it. I'd be perfectly happy to do tile or concrete counters over stone, and there's perfectly good ceramic tile that's just as beautiful and much more practical than rocks n baubles.

If you are looking for a 30 inch, then I would look at Dacor or DCS. Both are wonderful stoves. I couldn't swing one on my budget and went with the Bosch 30 inch dual fuel pro. I am still learning how to cook on it after a month, but it is an amazing stove for the price. It also has the largest space in a convection oven of any of the 30 inch stoves.

BTW, just a FYI, concrete countertops are the most expensive countertop you can install. Their cost far exceeds most granites. There are gorgeous granites out there for a reasonable cost as well as gorgeous tiles. Best of luck to you. Let us know what you decide.

I splurged on an AGA range a few years ago and LOVE it. I didn't have room for the large one but even the small one has two ovens (conventional and convection), a broiler (on top where it makes sense). I have friends in Europe with Agas that have been handed down for generations and the new ones don't look much different. I love the vintage look and the modern convenience.

Here is a link that might be useful: AGA Products

Thats easy- Igloos! As long as it came with the lake view and the chickens!
Other than that I have never dreamed that big!

I know - its not french but have you considered a vintage Chambers range? You can sometimes get them for as little as $100 on ebay or Craig's list if you are lucky - they weight a lot so you will need to factor in moving costs - but they look fantastic, have very powerful burners and come in all kinds of fun colors. They also have a broiler on the stove top and a griddle. Ours is pale yellow and we got it for $300 and haven't done any maintenance on it (although some people do go through the trouble of getting them cleaned and refurbished). They were made with heavy insulation so the oven does a great job of retaining its heat. Mine has a low back - a little more streamlined look than the one in the picture.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chambers range

A little off topic -- something fun to report... I was in Paris two weeks ago and while wandering around the St Germain area, I stumbled on the La Cornue Store! I was actually looking for a certain bookstore which I eventually found.

I recently remodeled my kitchen -- no, I don't have a french range -- can't afford one and don't know much about them since I can't buy one, but since I was at their doorstep, I went inside the store and had some fun! There were about 8 or so ranges on display and I was the only shopper inside. The sales man was very. very nice and very knowledgeable. I told him from the start I was not buying, just wanted to look and he was fine with that. He more than encouraged me to look, took me from range to range, showed me the features, opened the ovens -- Yes, I stuck my head in! I was there for about an hour -- it was fun to have that fantasy!

There were large models down to small and 2 CornuFes. I saw several colors there and he showed me color samples. He spoke to me in broken English and I spoke in broken French.

They also had some kitchen accessories that I looked at -- it was a a lot of fun-- mostly because the sales man was so friendly and nice, especially knowing I just wanted to see them and not buy. He gave me a nice brochure and then directions to the bookstore I couldn't find. Its a very pretty store in a lovely area.

I don't know what brand it was, but DH spotted a bright red range once that we were both just drooling over. the price tag was around $18,000. If money was no object, that would have been the range for us. I would have enjoyed designing my whole kitchen around that beauty.

OK, I know I going to sound like some kind of obsessed Lacanche groupie, but if money were no object, I would blow out the back wall of my kitchen to enlarge it (which we looked into but wasn't in the budget) and I would get the Lacanche Sully 1800. I just like the look of the Lacanche better than the LaCornue Chateau and the Molteni. I also love the warming cupboard instead of the drawers. The Sully 1800 would have everything I could possibly want in a range. It's the one the chef Diane Morgan got. Oh well, money is quite an object and yet I still blew my budget and got the Cluny 1400, which is just a smaller version of my dream range :)

OK....here it is. My dream stove. It's a fully restored vintage 40" Red O'Keefe & Merritt. Unfortunatly it is sold, which probably doesn't matter because I am sure I could not afford it. But isn't it just the prettiest thing you ever saw?

Love the O&M -- it's like a classic automobile, all shiny, red, and chrome! The french ranges aren't my thing at all.

I totally agree. I really don't care for the look of the french ranges. This "classic car" range really does it for me though. I wish I knew how much it was....just out of curiosity.

There's one on ebay for about nine grand. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Range

ccombs1, I'm into the french ranges, but I have to agree that red O'Keefe and Merritt is hot!

I bet all that chrome would be a pain to keep nice though. i wonder if anyone here actually has any experience with these old ranges?? They are close to 70 years old. Even though my kitchen is nearly done and I am not remodeling anytime soon, I would be SO tempted to get one of those ranges. I am NOT showing that picture to my hubby either, or we may be remodeling the kitchen this weekend!!

I can speak about an old 1950's O'Keefe and Merritt. We had one for 6 years and loved it so much that we moved it with us when we moved 2 years ago. They are very solid, so fun-looking, and really great to cook on. I honestly considered keeping it for our new construction house, but the things that held me back were the one tiny oven and it only had 4 burners. Tiny oven-- fine for everything I needed size-wise, but I needed more than one pretty often. Burner-wise, I wanted some more BTUs and at least one more burner. Still, the O & M is what sent me on my quest for a different than standard range. I so loved my O & M that I couldn't imagine not having an interesting looking stove, again. Mine also had a cover that you could flip down over the entire stove surface. It was so practical for keeping little fingers away, hiding less-than-perfectly clean burners, etc. It really is a great range.

Restoring a historic plantation home and gutting the kitchen. Looking at the Sully 1800 range--has anyone experienced the exterior becoming hot enough to burn? I was told this is not the range to purchase if you have small kids. We have 3 "cooks in training" and burns would not be part of the recipe. Thanks in advance:)