Upon further investigation :) My wife, who does most of the cooking, says she uses the peninsula for most of the prep work (I guess I need to pay more attention!). Dishes go directly into the dishwasher or into the sink (we don't leave dishes on the counter, .....). **My cooking style requires minimal prep so I just use the spot beside the range :) Hope this helps.

gracesntacruz, I learned that the place to insert the link (Copy it and paste it here) does not come up until you are in the preview mode to make changes when you are the first poster. Then afterwards, it has the area to do this on every message before you reply. I only know how to do links and not insert pictures. Again a beautiful kitchen that you should be very proud of.

I'm with weedmeister on this one. You've got to ask yourself some questions, and discuss the implications with your builder. If that's an exterior wall, how to you plan to insulate it? Even if it's not, (I think it's a party wall,) consider it carefully. Stud construction is convenient for lots of reasons. Where are you going to run Romex and where are you putting electrical boxes? How are you going to anchor cabinets to masonry? ascorsonelli shows an example with a brick wall that was likely intended to be exposed. Yours might look charming now, but (no offense) it's not the finest brickwork. It was meant to be covered with lath and plaster. Sorry to rain on your parade ;) But sometimes what we think is a charming discovery turns into a tedious chore down the road. Ask yourself: what do you like about the brick? Maybe you can incorporate that (color/ texture/ whatever) into your scheme in a way that pleases you. That's just my two cents, having been through a lot of these dilemmas. It's easy to get carried away with an old house. I like your house in particular. I remember the cute butlers pantry! To me, your house has plenty of charm already, and I would make sure to weigh the consequences before committing to a potentially problematic exposed brick wall. Good luck, no matter what, and I'll be interested to see what you do with the space!

Here is what I had come up with without moving walls but moving the entry from the mudroom down. This would give a perimeter with overhang of 25 1/2" + 48" between perimeter and island, with a 24" island with overhang would bring it to 26 1/2" and that would leave a 3' wide walkway behind the island. Andre would have to move the sink in the mud room though but if he's not willing to move into the media room, this might work.