Wall ovens won't ever be "dated." That being said, get the kitchen that works for your needs, not the kitchen you think is trendy. If you don't cook much and don't need wall ovens or a bigger cooking surface (assuming the cooktop is 36"), don't get them. ETA: that looks like an oven/microwave combo, so in that case it's no additional appliances. If that's true, it's personal preference. many people feel that wall ovens are more ergonomic, while others do a lot of stove-to-oven cooking and like the proximity of the stove to oven that a range has. Again, totally up to you.

In my area, the standard/non-gourmet appliance package always includes a slide-in range and an over-the-range microwave. I would chose any option to avoid an OTR microwave as the clearance is usually pretty minimal and the venting function is almost non-existent. If you like slide-in ranges, do they offer an option with a vent hood and the microwave somewhere else that appeals to you? Also, sometimes you lose counter space going with a builders "gourmet" option so that's your trade-off.

How much are they charging for the "gourmet" kitchen? Builders make their money on upgrades. I agree that real ventilation is what you want. But if your stove is on an outside wall, it could be added later.

What does the "gourmet" kitchen include? Better quality cabinets? Different countertops? Gas cooking?

Generally best to focus your upgrade budget on things that are tough to change later, like better insulation. You could always buy a high-end range down the road.

Kitchens with a cooktop and oven have been around, and popular, since the middle of the last century. Definitely not trendy. But also not particularly "gourmet." If you bake a lot, you may appreciate the height of a wall oven. If you often find yourself cooking something on the stove while something else is cooking in the oven, you may appreciate not standing directly in front of the oven (in a range set-up). Other people like the flexibility to choose oven and cooktop brands and features separately from each other (probably not a factor with your builder package).

Ranges are an advantage if you don't have a lot of space, and the space not occupied by the oven stack means more counter space. I think it's cheaper on average to buy a range than separate cooktop and oven (and less electrical work). And when something eventually breaks and needs to be replaced, having the pieces decoupled is probably an advantage.

To me a gourmet kitchen is one that is laid out (appliances and storage) for the style of cooking of the gourmet cook who uses it, and has nothing to do with range vs. cooktop/oven.

The gourmet kitchen is $2000 extra. The cabinets are sold separately.

The countertops are also sold separately.

To me, this type of kitchen is always nicer looking than a slide in range, unless the range is super high end, which would be much more expensive. If you can afford the upgrade, I would do it. The price will be added into your homes value.

"I’d like to know if this type of kitchen would look dated in years to come as the stove is on the countertops and the oven is separate."

In January 1964 (57 years ago), my family moved into a brand new 5-bedroom, 3-bathroom tract home that my parents purchased before the framing had even begun. The cooktop (stove) was on the countertop and the wall oven was separate. I don't know if that setup was innovative at the time - it was simply our kitchen.

My grandmother always had wall ovens, and they built "the big house" in the 50's. When she updated in the 70's, when I was a teenager, she still had wall ovens and a white glass cooktop. I remember the cooktop being the coolest thing ever.

When I was a child, my aunt had a wall oven. Her home was the only home that I ever saw it in. I’m wondering if it’s a trend that comes and goes.

zuchon,, I don't know If I'd call having a wall oven gourmet. that's just a marketing ploy.

Wall ovens have been around since the 50's. It's not a ploy and it's not going anywhere!

The picture you show has a wall oven, PLUS a microwave above it. those are 'combo oven/microwave'. The prob w/those that if one thing breaks on one of the two, and can't be fixed, you have to replace the entire unit.

I've always had a wall oven and a separate cooktop. When I redid my kitchen, I had a separate microwave installed below my wall oven (it used to be over the cook top and used as the venting. Horrible!)

My cook top is a Kitchen Aid and is 16 years old. Works beautifully.

Wall oven and Micro are new and are both GE products.

So to answer you question, how do you like to cook? You can purchase your own appliances, yes? If so, I'd go w/the wall oven and a micro, but not a combo unit.

if you have the space, do the wall oven. w/the cook top you can have large drawers beneath it to hold your pots and pans. I would never get a cook top on an island.

Definitely will not be dated.

How nice of a tract home is it - in terms of construction quality, builder reputation, overall design, neighborhood location? Will the neighborhood's resale values (yet to be determined, I know, but the answers to question one might give a sense of the future). We have a couple of tract home builders in the area whose product has all of the superficial bells and whistles to dazzle buyers, but the construction quality is poor, customer service post sale is non-existent, etc. So those values are not holding up or at least not keeping pace with other similar developments.

Then, as others pointed out, will the extra expense be worth it to you in terms of functionality?

Agree that the separate oven and cooktop has been around and popular for decades. It is not going away. You should get what works well for you. What would you spend $2000 on instead?

I'm confused. The cabinets and countertop are separate, so what do you get for $2k? Is that for the wall oven and ventilation? Personally I don't need a wall oven, but the vent hood is a big thing. So I guess I'd do it.

A gourmet is a connoisseur of good food and doesn't necessarily cook so I don't know what a gourmet kitchen is. Most American food lovers are gourmands.

There's probably a French word for people who love kitchens or for a well designed kitchen but most French kitchens are tiny. American kitchens are large with lots of cabinets and expensive appliances.

Julia Child's Cambridge, MA kitchen is now at the Smithsonian:

Here's her kitchen in France:

Here's Julia's Garland range. I once owned a similar Vulcan Hart. There were pilot lights for each burner and the combination griddle/salamander.

$2k seems inexpensive for a setup that feels higher end than a range (here in Dallas I only see that in low end houses or cheap apartments).

If the $2000 gets you a real vent hood to the great outdoors, go for it. Although you could do it later, it will be such a little project, it will end up costing that much.

If you are approaching retirement (I have no idea), I would consider the question in a different way.... Since you're not decided on the gourmet upgrade, I would gather you don't feel compelled to go in that direction.

However, "approaching retirement" would be a great time to consider whether that $2k could go into "senior friendly" features. Some of these will add safety to your home, too. For instance, having a stove with knobs on the front, so you don't have to reach across burners. Do you need the space where the ovens would be for things like dishes, so they're in easy reach? Or maybe for pantry goods? Can you get extra electric sockets, so it's convenient to have countertop appliances, like a soup blender, juice maker, or a microwave (for safety, countertop level is better than above the stove; otherwise you can have hot soup at eye level).

Can you upgrade the cabinets or get a color you like more? Could you put your microwave where that oven is?

Would the $2k be smarter spent on a bathroom upgrade or more closet space?

If you are a cook, I would spend the extra 2G on a higher end slide in. Galore’s experience is different than mine. In my area $ 2,000,000 homes with higher end slide ins are not low end compared to cheap double ovens + range top. “Feels” higher end isn’t the same true high end. I love my $6,000 dual fuel 36” slide in. And before I had a 60” 12,009 slide in. But I elevate function over form and “feeling” high end has nothing to do with my choice even thought my choice is about the same as 50% of the homes in my high end neighborhood. Bottom line is get what works for you!

God Is in the details - exactly what are you getting for the $2000 "upgrade".

In general wall ovens are preferred by most people and are considered to be more upscale. They are not trendy at all.

In general if one is remodeling (for example) a wall oven and a cooktop will cost more than a "stove" This is because a stove is generally less expensive than a comparable quality wall oven (or ovens) and cooktop. Also you need a special cabinet to house the wall ovens and this is generally more expensive than the standard cabinets that will house the wall ovens.

However, many people don't like to have the microwave oven above a wall oven - not that above the stove is better - because the height makes it more difficult to use if you are short.

Although you didn't ask, you should focus on the functionality and construction of the cabinets. Drawers are much better than lower cabinets with shelves but are generally ore expensive. Your standard cabinet package probably only includes one cabinet with drawers and the rest being lowers with shelves. You can retrofit pull outs to lower cabinets to make them more functional but they still aren't as functional as drawers because there are two motions to open and close.

My i laws built in 1955 with built in oven and cooktop in the counter.

I don't think the experience varies. There is cheap range and high end range.

Cheap houses have cheap ranges. Most mid range houses have separate. And then the high end have high end ranges. Certainly exceptions but nothing beats the value in a cheap range.

We have a great high end range but I do look forward to living or building in an area less high end and going back to the separates. We cook a lot and separates are better for us. The most important reason is that you have more storage near the cooktop. Ovens can be off to the side. No one stirs in an oven and most of the time you put something in an oven and wait X minutes. Conversely, most range cooking requires visual and tactile attention. And you are adding ingredients over time. Separate cooktop allows pans in drawers below it, freeing up drawers for spices right next door.

We don't bake often enough for it to be a consideration.

Gourmet kitchen is a common marketing term (in NC at least). I remember paying more like $4k 20 years ago for the option. I do think it was a lot more than OP is getting but same idea.

That looks like a real hood and gas cooktop - a no brainer and honestly incredible value for $2k depending on what the base is. But I would guess the base is $800 range with $300 MW - OTR.

A real hood costs more than that and you still need to get the other components. And the install labor is significant.

For resale in NC go for the gourmet option.

I don't believe it's a fad, (i've been in NC 20 years and it's been a desired feature as long as I've lived here) and it's actually quite convenient. We renovated our current home to get just that. In our previous home, we chose the gourmet upgrade and in our new custom build, we designed it to have the separate double wall ovens.

One definite plus is one person can be watching something broiling or biscuits, bread, cookies etc. baking in the double wall ovens while the cook is working at the stove top.

My daughter loves to bake dessert. She's often on one side of the island preparing/baking dessert and able to put things into the ovens which are out of the way of the cook top, while I'm making dinner.

As well the advantage of the double oven means even if the main course is in the oven, she can also have a dessert in the other one or we can cook things at different temperatures etc.

I would enjoy the separate wall ovens as I am tall and bending over with a full Dutch oven is sometimes an issue. Something to think about.

I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around what it would mean for my kitchen to be a gourmet.

Not having a hood that vents to the outside would be a non-starter for me, so if that costs $2K I'd buy it-- make sure thy give you an 8-10" pipe for that price!.

For me, kitchens are a personal workspace where I spend a lot of time. I want the layout and appliances to be perfect for cooking the way I like. That may be completely different for you. Which option gives you the kitchen you're most comfortable working in? (or the most painless upgrade path if your builder won't build what you really need/want?)

Since it's a tract builder, you will be competing against similar homes right around you when you sell. If those homes added the 2K feature, then yours will stand out as "less" and that might be enough for someone to choose your neighbor's home. I had wall ovens and a gas cooktop 18 years ago, the kitchen never felt like mine. Now I have a slide in range (48") and it feels more upscale than the 36" cooktops that I see...but that is me, and it's just an opinion.

I've no idea why they call it "gourmet", probably same reason why they call fairly standard apartments for rent "luxury apartments". It's a set up that I know exists for many years...some people prefer slide-in oven, I'm totally comfortable with countertop stove/built in oven as it means I have to bend less. I also like having separate places for it all as one person can check more the oven, and another, a stove. (well usually it's one person, but I appreciate the possibilty))

It really should be about what's comfortable for you, day to day. It's not a trend-it's an ordinary, a normal variant of kitchen set up.

Since it's a non custom build I'd be ready to pay a bit more if it saves me something else.

With our remodel we hunted appliances, sales and open box, and the hood, I won it on eBay for 100$. (was hunting a certain model for a long time). But ours is simple stainless steel one installed under the upper cabinets.

If it's someting that will go in all at once, and you have less control over it, and no time/ possibilty to do this puzzle-together thing, and whatever they call "gourmet" works for you-I'd just go with it I guess.

the picture you posted looks good, nothing trendy about it(except obviously one still would be able to tell when it was installed-but such is fate of 90% of kitchens out there. Maybe more)

If you plan on staying in the house for 10 years or more, the kitchen will likely need an upgrade by then for the fastest, top dollar. Make the kitchen you will enjoy now based on how you live now. I learned this after three houses with kitchen renovations. I like numbers and when we started planning our current kitchen reno I saw that I should spend 10-15% of my home's value on the renovation. So my current $350K home is not getting a $100K kitchen, even if I could afford it. But my much more expensive home in Brooklyn, NY did get all those super expensive appliances and the house sold VERY fast for top dollar. I also read a few different guidelines on what percentage of the budget should be on cabinets, lighting, etc. It has been very helpful keeping to my budget when shopping for things. "Gourmet kitchen" is a marketing ploy. Real cooks know what's what when they look at a kitchen and it doesn't have to be expensive. Most of my pots and pans come from the restaurant supply store, not All-Clad.

This is our second tract home build, this time in NC, I'm choosing the 'gourmet' option with the micro+wall oven combo and gas cooktop (as I had it TX). We're renting right now (a Beazer home) and it has a glass cooktop+slide in range - it's horrible. Stuff falls down the sides; it's old-school to me. I'd rather have a cooktop with drawers for my pots and pans underneath. The only thing I wouldn't do is buy upgraded appliances; if you stay long enough you'll replace them anyway. It'll always be current.

My current kitchen has a wall oven/microwave combo and a separate gas cooktop. It's a good setup for a small kitchen and pretty much serves all my needs for empty nest living. If I had more space, I'd most certainly put in a second wall oven (or have a full gas range with a second wall oven) for those holiday times in which having more oven real estate is always desirable. But the bottom line is, $2K for a kitchen upgrade is peanuts when you look at the overall price of your new build. I'd say go for it. You won't regret having nicer appliances, but you may regret not buying them when you had the chance.

I was just sent to price out appliances for our build. I bake a lot and was trying to decide between a double oven range and wall unit double ovens. I ultimately chose the double wall units. I am crazy excited about this, I have never had wall unit ovens and this gives me two regular sized ovens. Can't wait to see all the baking I can do now. We are also going with the 36 inch cooktop which I think I will like because I have become a short order cook, cooking separate meals for my picky entitled children. All our appliances are on our own dime though, not included in the building cost. Our mortgage lender needed the price to figure it into our loan.

Gentle reminder - the extractor hood should overlap the cooktop by 3 inches on each side (36 inch cooktop = 42 inch hood). The wider the hood (in comparison to the cooktop) the higher it can be mounted.