I would not use leathered countertops for a prep area. Honed, but not leathered. If you roll out dough it will make it rippled as the surface is uneven. Honed will take the polished shine out of natural stone but will leave it smooth. Have you considered soapstone?

Thank you for replying. We love the honed Jet Mist (Virginia Mist) and soapstone but after lots of research and talking to folks who used it, the upkeep is more than we want. It is helpful to hear about the ripples....

I agree that leathered is not optimal for baking prep if that is something you do. Soapstone was going to be my suggestion without seeing your space (pics would be helpful) or marble as those are age-appropriate materials.

My historic house clients fall into 2 general categories: Purists who want only things that would be available at the time the house was built, and Respectful Updaters who want something to LOOK like it might belong in the house, but are more open to modern materials. If you are a Purist, your options may be limited to the above-mentioned and tile, more butcher block or zinc.

If you fall more into the Respectful Updater camp, you can add granite, quartz, quartzite, concrete, glass, Corian, etc, etc. The key is to find something that gels with the look of your kitchen. If you don't mind posting pics, I can give more advice.

Quartz would be my thought if you want low maintenance and something to look like soapstone or marble. It can also come honed so its not screaming "I am quartz here me roar!"

I am not fan of most granite, sorry to say. There are exceptions. Its just very much "of an era" to me so I have a hard time placing it in a historic house unless its a honed solid color or very subtle.

I have leathered Virginia Mist granite and have had no issues at all in my food prep, including rolling out dough. It may be that there are different “degrees” of leathering or the fact that I don’t roll directly on the countertop (which I wouldn’t do regardless of the type of surface), but that has been my experience. Leathered Virginia Mist is also very easy in terms of upkeep, which is a plus for me in my busy household.

As usual, mixed opinions! That is what I like about this forum, gives me lots to think about,

I am not a fan of granite usually but like the understated look of Virginia Mist with only the sealer applied, more of a charcoal gray than a black.

I am adding photos of my kitchen and the sample of granite. The right end section of the piece is with only the sealer. As it gets darker as you travel left the enhancer has been added. I have seen this is in a friend's house and it gives a more matte appearance. Please excuse my messy kitchen, trying to process all the garden before the rain destroys it all!

Love your kitchen! Fabulous stove!!!

I have a 1918 house and elected to go with soapstone for my kitchen remodel. I love it as a counter surface and am glad to have gone with it. However, the one thing that flummoxed me is - it’s not great for rolling pie dough. The surface has a sort of grippy-ness to it that fights an even roll out. I was used to Formica where delicate doughs needed just a smidge of flour to prevent sticking. My solution was to get a good sized marble pastry slab for about $40.00. Problem solved. I suspect that bread doughs would be easy to work on soapstone. Sadly, there is no stone surface that you would want to be cutting on, nor would it be a good idea with quartz. But, with the addition of a wood cutting board I’d go with honed marble, or Virginia/Jet Mist granite. Or soapstone with its little marble pastry board companion :)

@cercis47 can you explain why you are moving away from the butcher block?

I am looking to update my kitchen and it's nearly identical concept to yours - 1928 house, original cast iron sink, 1954 Chambers stove and shaker style cabinetry.

I felt like white cabinets + butcher block counters would be an appropriate way to give it a 'remodeled in the 50's' kind of vibe. I have soapstone in my bathroom but I wasn't wanting to introduce the back color into the kitchen. Just want to know what you don't like about the butcher block.

Kats737, we love the butcherblock for food prep. I do a lot of cooking and the kitchen is small so the butcherblock island with sink is the surface I use for cutting, baking, etc. The other counters are pretty much filled with kitchen stuff, coffee stuff, onion basket, dishrack, etc. These counters were laminate and served well for almost 25 years but now has some problems.

What has spurred us on to this remodel is the water/wood problem. The drop in sink has created a perimeter of mold and when hubby checked under the sink lip, the wood has rotted. After a lot of research and questioning of vendors as well as our contractor, the consensus is that even when precautions are enacted, water rots wood! The only iption was to forgo the sink and we both decided in a small kitchen where we often cook together the 2nd sink was really helpful.

I decided on the leathered Silver Pearl granite, our fabricator picked up the slab yesterday. I don’t like the look of a mottled polished granite in a vintage kitchen and I would have much prefered soapstone but my main goas in the premodel were maintaining the vintage look while making upkeep as easy as possible and the soapstone care made me nervous. (I have to say the laminate did fit the criteria of carefree). The leathered granite is very muted and with only a sealer applied is more of a soft charcoal rather than a harsh black.

So we have decided to keep the maple but edge the prep sink in the island with the granite. The other counters will be granite as well. I have seen photos of this and can’t say I love the look but in the end will have to compromise esthetics for practicality. Our fabricator doesn’t see a problem with shimming as necessary to even out the surfaces.

The prep sink is at the end of the island facing the big sink/counter area so I am hoping there will be some visual continuity between the granite surround and the counters. Also for practicality’s sake the sink is an undermount so visually the sink will have a smaller profile.

I have thought over this pretty carefully and decided that “can’t teach an old dog new tricks” applies to us. That maple wood surface is so practical for our kitchen habits.

Here is a photo that sort of shows the result but in a modern kitchen. And a photo of the sample granite with our butcherblock.

i will post a photo when the kitchen is finished as I spent hours looking for one that would approximate our kitchen. Let us know what you decide and post a photo of your kitchen now if you can.

Photos didn’t go through. Will try again!

cercis47, sorry for the delay, but I did want to thank you for your reply! I hope you've got your stuff off to be fabricated and are on your way to a new kitchen.

I also didn't want to overtake your thread with my issues, but I appreciate the feedback on the butcher block. Ours would be away from splashing water as we have a drainboard sink. I think the only thing I do that is 'bad' currently is place cut up vegetables face down on the stainless steel surface, and I could stop that. I just don't know what other surface I would want for countertops, and I think it makes sense to have white on the bases of the sink/stove/new carts, then we bring in cherry wood across the horizontal plane to transition to the cherry finished wood in the rest of the space. I think soapstone would be too dark, and marble is too fancy for our basic home. I don't want to fully embrace a 50s retro with formica.

This is a view of my kitchen looking in from the back door. From L-R you see:

pantry door

cart (to be replaced with a 2-drawer, 2 door cart)

opening into hallway

small blank space (will be adding a corner cabinet here to hold cookbooks and my cast iron pot, I would *love* for this to have a drawer but think it would be a couple hundred to add it to a weird angle cabinet)

stove with range hood cabinet (keeping as-is)

door to the attic

cart (to be replaced as a trash/recycle cart) with a radiator behind it

drainboard sink

Next to the sink is a refrigerator, turn 90 degrees, and and one final short wall with a window on it. SOOO many openings and that's why we need an unfitted kitchen!

Most kitchens around here have lost the attic door which would open up a lot of options for fitted cabinets, but that's a $$$ renovation we're not looking to do at this time.

Kats737, what a charming kitchen you have but I have to admit, I have never seen so many doors in a kitchen! i would absolutely stick to butcherblock in your kitchen. I love the look, practicality and price of it. I am embarassed to say that I often cut directly on our existing butcherblock (we don’t eat eat so no worries there). it actually doesn’t destroy the surface, just gives it what my husband calls. “a patina”.

let us know what you decide.

Thanks! I just need to get some final measurements. I'm working with inches on the one that has the garbage pullout due to the radiator. Then I will hem and haw about doing the whole thing, and eventually get an estimate.

I forgot, there's a door in there with an ironing board mounted in the wall also ;)

I would use face grain maple instead of edge grain butcher board but would not put a sink in either material.

I apologize in advance, not related to your kitchen dilemma - can’t stop thinking about your tomatoes! They look really good! I grew up with home made tomatoes and in stores here are all plastic taste... about materials for kitchen counter I would go with less maintenance or none at all:)