I have wanted an AGA since I first saw a picture of one back in the 1960s with the pans that were the correct size to be used in it. The ones I saw back then all seemed to be coal fired.

I remember Julia Childs had one. They DO look cool. Have an old fashioned "high--end" look to them. I don't know of a more expensive stove-oven combo. So it's the most you can spend. Anyone know of another that's higher end?

La Cornue, Lacanche, and other European models are also very expensive, but I'm not sure how they compare to the AGA.

Some of the Viking stoves are more expensive than the AGAs. Then if you want a professional kitchen the sky really is the limit.

This one is more expensive but it has free shipping:

And La Cornue wasn't about to give up without a fight: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/500000-dollar-la-cornue-thermador-bertazzoni-oven

We had three friends, one couple in Ireland and two in England, whose first homes had an Aga installed. We've stayed with all of them. All three burned fuel oil but historically they also could burn coal or wood.

For one, it was the source of domestic hot water. For the other two, extra heat was routed to radiators in other rooms. For all three couples, when they bought another house and sold their first ones, they bought homes that didn't have Agas and they didn't put one in.

The classic model is cast iron, stays on continually and gives off a lot of heat. It would be impractical to have in a hoe anywhere with prevailing temps warmer than the chilly British Isles. Heat is not adjustable, the top part doesn't really get hot enough and heat is only variable by moving the cookware on and off the "burner", as far as we could see. The oven compartments are small.

You really don't want one.

"So is the house that Justin Bieber and Hailey bought"

The IQs of these two added together would total about the same level as one adult of below average intelligence. You don't want to follow their examples for anything.

I think the appeal of the aga is its charming appearance,not its function.

I would never want an AGA. The waste of fuel alone, let alone the constant heat!

It looks like the Clooneys' AGA is just for show. There is a gas cook top on the island.

You summed it up perfectly Elmer. Any I've seen the ovens are so small. Locale is important....cool climates is fine, with cheap fuel costs.

Some Aga history:

In traditional Aga cookers, the hot plates and ovens are always on so no pre-heating. In 2011, Aga introduced the Aga Total Control where all elements – ovens and hot plates can be switched on and off as needed. Then there is Aga iTotal Control model that can be controlled remotely via a smartphone, PC, laptop or tablet or even by sending a text message to your Aga. It’s a move to attract people who don’t want an oven on all the time or want to reduce energy usage (the hot plates use the majority of energy required to run an Aga). In 2013, a dual control model was launched – a hybrid between a traditional AGA and the Total Control. It has a low energy oven setting (or you can turn them off completely), plus hot plates that can be switched on or off separately.

https://www.independent.co.uk/indy-eats/aga-cooker-cooking-culinary-history-julia-platt-leonard-a7671751.html

They served a purpose in damp climates, especially before central heating was common. I'd guess that for many the Aga is remembered fondly as a source of not only food, but heat.

My favorite illustration of 'a damp climate' is my aunt's experience living in Yorshire for two years shortly after the end of WWII. Rationing was still in effect, and my DM often sent 'care' packages. Once she included two electric blankets. My aunt wrote to thank us and reported that her beds were still steaming two full days after she'd put the blankets on them. (On 'low', the home's fuse box not capable of anything more.)

I could have used one in San Francisco - it was always cold there, but it would be a huge pain in Southern California, as it would raise the cost of A/C and cause a huge waste of electricity in order to cool the houses.

In Venice, red Bertazzoni ranges are popular with flippers, and so the dealers keep them in inventory. That made it easy for us when Kevin bought ours for our house in Westchester. I think ours looks much better than AGA, which is a bit clunky looking to me.

"DM often sent 'care' packages. Once she included two electric blankets.
My aunt wrote to thank us and reported that her beds were still steaming
two full days after she'd put the blankets on them"

This was probably because your mother sent 110volt electric blankets and the electric power in the UK is 220-240. US appliances, most especially heat producing ones, can't be plugged in to the higher voltage source. She's lucky it didn't start a fire.

Some "wartime" food rationing continued in the UK until the mid-1950s. Even in the 1960s, the UK hadn't fully recovered economically from its war losses and life for many was pretty bleak.

"especially before central heating was common."

In older, more modest homes in Britain, central heating is still today not nearly as common as it is elsewhere. Contrary to what you'd expect for how chilly and damp the weather is.

"I could have used one in San Francisco"

I don't think so, they give off WAAAY too much heat. SF is cool and rarely hot but rarely cold in a Britain sense.

When I think of it, I seldom see AGA's in British shows. I always look for the tell-tale lids that cover the hobs. Gas is definitely used more these days.

The UK had a surge in natural gas supply when the North Sea oil and gas deposits were discovered and began producing in the 1970s. Gas lines do not run everywhere and in such places, heating is commonly done by fuel oil and cooking with electric ovens and electric cooktops.

Elmer -- I edited my story to shorten it, omitting the part about converter plugs. There was better food to be had via Scotland. Possibly black market? The "Call the Midwife" series has shown how comparatively old fashioned life still was in England then. There were no chain grocers. My aunt shopped in the same manner she would have a century earier with almost daily trips to individual shops: The greengrocer, the baker, the butcher, etc.

I've been miserably cold in San Francisco and southern Florida because the climates were long considered too warm to warant the expense of central heat. It's one reason we gave Florida a miss during our DS's Christmas holidays. We found reliable sun on in the Virgin Islands.

The UK has its own plug and corresponding socket shape, different from anywhere else (except some former Commonwealth areas that did what the mother country did). Two blade US electric plugs won't fit. If your aunt used a "plug adapter", those (still in use) will change the plug shape to allow non-UK plugs to connect but they do nothing to change the voltage. To change the voltage, a transformer is also needed. Modern things (like PC or smartphone charging cords) are often 110-240V these days so that transformers aren't needed.

San Francisco (the city itself) and the coast to its north have cool and foggy summers. The Bay Area is much warmer and temps increase considerably after leaving the city by only a few miles. We locals (I'm a 40+ year transplant from the southern part of the state) remember that going to an SF Giants baseball game at Candlestick Park in the months of May to September was often a cold and chilly experience, while going to a 49ers game at the same place in Oct-Dec would usually be much warmer and sometimes even hot. "Summer" in SF is late Sept often into December.

All the same, central heating in SF is the rule and not the exception and has been for a long time, with average temps far above anywhere in the UK. And, in the winter far above most of the US too. Just never real warm but never real cold. Often damp and also windy.

Good Grief! I grew up with the predecessor to an AGA--an old fashioned wood stove. We were more than delighted when we got a stove that had both wood burning and gas. An AGA holds no appeal to me.

You might like to read "Cake Baking" on mnladywrites @wordpress.com

I've never heard of it, but apparently a La Cornue is "the one" to own. A luxury French range Price point of around $100K

I wonder how many of the sleb's (and other folks with more money than they know what to do with) actually understand what an AGA is or have any intention of using it themselves ... probably very few, is my guess. Designers must like them.