And no DWs.

It looks like a Home Ec classroom. Was the building ever a school?

Kosher?

I was about to say the same as Maddie. Reminds me of home ec suites back in the day.

There is no evidence that it was divided up on the inside, or the interior commercialized in any way, so I am not sure.

But maybe a boarding house or sorority/fraternity house where the house was used essentially as is without other modifications.

With 10 bedrooms you better have more than one fridge.

A Kosher kitchen would have two refrigerators.

I looked to see if there was space for more refrigerators and I don't see a specific built in spot, but I'm thinking there had to be another refrigerator maybe a large commercial unit maybe outside the kitchen somewhere.

I guess I can see not having a dishwasher. It forces everyone to clean up after cooking. But I wonder if there is a kind of scullery with dishwasher for the plates etc?

There are some odd counters, desks, and what about that little step by the brick wall? Now I'm really curious as to the history of this place!

Maybe the home of sister wives?

Maybe it was a family compound, or a student dome. I also have 3 sinks in my kitchen at the weekend place. Is that rare?

I'm guessing there was another refrigerator, possibly in another room or garage. Really does look like a home ec classroom.

While everone is making intelligent comments on the kitchen and its history, I’m hung up on the soffit / no soffit construction and how the cabinets were installed in both areas. See second photo. On second look, that’s not a soffit but a support crossing the kitchen. Photos one and two.

What was this place originally?

Is this house located on the border of Utah and Arizona? I was thinking the same as @hhireno that it makes me think of a polygamist house. Or maybe a place where cooking classes were held.

Do you think that brick wall was for a fireplace or woodstove once?

This was a single family house and it's possible the kitchen extended into other service rooms or porches at the back of the house.

Maybe there's another fridge, not shown, in a nearby room. But if this was a Kosher kitchen, it would be SO hard to work with-- since there's a half wall between the two areas. Most Kosher kitchens I've seen have everything in one area so you can move from the milk side to the meat side quickly and easily.

Very strange. Maybe they had a home catering business?

It's really cute though, so retro. I love the cabinetry and blue lino!

Since a refrigerator is part of the Work Triangle, this looks extremely inefficient as a family kitchen.

These are the kind of wood cabinets that I would not mind painting, due to the wild grain on the veneer. I would paint them a color similar to the floor, but darker.

I really dislike the white stoves - they are hard to keep clean on top.

Very interesting. Those cabinets look to be ca. 1955-1965. What's the age of the house?

1905

Home Ec rooms often only have one large fridge.

I’m wondering if the house may have served as a finishing school of some kind. One for more sensible folk, with more focus on cooking than cotillion.

Someone could call the seller realtor to find out the reason for 3 stoves.

It does kind of look like the kitchen set up they have in our nutrition/dietetics department lab.

Observations (without conclusions):

I can’t imagine wooden countertops in any sort of communal living space.

The odd header beam dies into what could be a support post.

The cabinets appear to be plywood which could indicate site-built

Odd height/place for a paper towel holder

@palimpsest could you give us a link to the listing?

I am really curious. I too thought maybe kosher, but no dishwashers is most unusual. Also, fwiw, the kosher people I know have 2 dishwashers and sinks, but one stove and one fridge.

https://www.estately.com/listings/info/5844-overbrook-avenue-philadelphia-pa-19131

oh my that's incredible.

Well, gee, I was hoping the listing would be enlightening about the strange kitchen. No such luck.

Lots of cooking during the holidays?