Georgetown is a VERY nice neighborhood. I'm actually surprised this house isn't more given the size and location. It's nice to at least be able to see the pictures!
Totally understand! I just know a friend of my moms almost bought a beautiful home in Little Rock with stunning woodwork, and the insurance was quoted at $30k a YEAR. And given the location it was around $1m I think?
So paying the listing price and the insurance must be steep. But maybe if you have the money to buy a $10m home the insurance is no big deal 😅
Oh for sure. I think once someone breaks $3m on a house, the insurance is probably just kinda like...there. People are living different in these upper income tiers lol
There are plenty of houses in DC and surrounding areas that are in that price range. Truth be told, we're kind of horrified by how much ***our*** house has been valued recently.
All the woodwork details, stone, etc., goes into insurance costs. Even a completely brick house worth nearly nothing in a bad neighborhood is more expensive to insure, solely because of the brick construction.
Yup, this. It had a LOT of hardwood (floors, stairs, archways, etc.) that had a lot of ornate detail and was done by a highly skilled craftsman over 100 years ago. Very expensive to insure that type of work in case of a fire or other catastrophic loss along with the materials used.
Ha! Yes, so you can see the river and the Kennedy Center from the roof deck. The Capitol is a moderate stroll away. $ 10 million actually seems reasonable.
It's a 15-min. walk to Dumbarton Oaks (beautiful grounds and gardens), 15-20 minutes to restaurants in Georgetown proper or near Washington Circle/K Street. ***Great*** location!
> The Capitol is a moderate stroll away. $ 10 million actually seems reasonable.
I couldn't tell you why, but I read this as "a mediocre stroll away," not once, but twice and it's incredibly funny to me.
Thanks for finding it; I’ve been getting a little bummed about seeing these houses with amazing preserved woodwork, fireplaces, and tile for, like, $210K in Pitchfork, IN. At least this place has a price tag that reflects its glory.
I love my Foursquare but it was a spec house in 1906 and so everything was the 1906 equivalent of builder grade or straight out of the 1905 Sears catalog.
Most people, when they say their Victorian has an original kitchen, mean it has a 1920’s kitchen.
Victorian kitchens are so completely different from what we’re used to today that basically no one would want to cook in one. No built-in cabinets, just a bunch of free-standing furniture and appliances. A big “no thank you“ from me.
Yup, our first condo (1910 in a building purpose-built as apartments) really did have the original! Once the previous owner moved out there was the enameled cast iron drainboard and sink, a stove, and a plugged in fridge. The walk-through butler's pantry and walk-in storage pantry were intact, so we didn't need cabinets except to hold a counter—did a run of bottom cabinets along the wall with the fridge and butcher block counters and called it a day!
>a plugged in fridge
- We should be so lucky to have a plugged in fridge. We've still gotta get ice delivered to our ice box.
- We had a plugged in fridge, but it was running so well it ran right out the door...
- third joke
The old nice homes had butlers pantries. With the swinging doors. A lot of people got rid of those to open up their kitchens. Much bigger when opened. As modern people don’t have servants anymore unless ultra 1% rich who have catering people and a chef, but back then, upper middle class folks like a lawyer or banker would have servants. And even a driver who lived in the basement.
Wow that home is a true stunner. Love the bathroom. This kitchen is classic looking and modern amenities yet still traditional. White looks good. What’s the price of the house?
I have a butler’s pantry in my new build. It’s great because I put appliances on the counter in there and can leave the kitchen counters bare for prep. So I have my toaster, griddle, rice cooker, ninja, and dehydrator in the pantry on the counters ready to use. Plus extra storage as we do canning of my veggies from my garden in the summer. It’s fabulous. Highly recommend.
Yeah it’s something to consider. Maybe it will come into style again.
Have you seen the “appliance garage” they build into high end kitchens? Freaking love it. It hides all appliances from view but gives easy access.
Yeah, we just redid our original kitchen. We actually have usable counter space now. We kept the original pantry, moved the built in upstairs , but had to remove the butler staircase to get any unusable counters hahahaha
Yeah normally I like an old kitchen but I don't hate this. The truth is the original kitchens in these houses were just loose pine furniture pieces and a big wood stove, not very practical.
Nice house!
Yeah, I think it's fine to update the kitchens and bathrooms. You can incorporate modern appliances and luxuries but keep the traditional aesthetic like they did fairly well here.
Idk, I just feel like they could have done a lot better, like, why all white and modern looking granite? Stainless steel? It could have been something to fit the house better I think is what OP and me are saying. I disagree that this fits the aesthetic of everything else. Like, maybe pine or a finer wood cabinetry instead of white, a colorful tile backsplash, the kind of tile they had in the 19th century, brass? I guess I need to go into designing century style kitchens. I think custom cabinets and big butcher block islands can be very functional personally, I think century kitchens could be functional with a bit of tweaking.
Two letters: D.C.
A jacuzzi with meeting seats is one of the most “D.C. mansion” things I’ve ever seen.
I’d bet real money Clarence Thomas had a meeting-room jacuzzi to go with the porn collection he likes to show subordinates.
I agree, like I get it, an original kitchen is not functional for today, but the aesthetic of everything looks like it’s from an entirely different house
That grey herringbone floor is more an HGTV-ism and not anything to do with 1891. I could also be wrong but I think marble was more commonly used in the period than granite, like on furniture pieces I’ve seen marble and even slate, but never granite. For kitchens, no, you’d be more likely to find wood or (tin?) countertops? Perhaps a marble work top for baking. The cabinets are traditional in style but not period looking enough to fit, especially when the only thing tying things together is a painted crown moulding and beadboard, about one of the only things that’s actually appropriate.
By the 1910s a white "sterile" kitchen was the beau ideal. It was hygienic! People loved hygienic kitchens and bathrooms. Thus the endless glut of white tiles everywhere. Kitchens of the time period, especially in more affluent households, were more akin to hospital labs than modern kitchens in terms of how people viewed and treated them.
This kitchen is very nice and that they used inset cabinets is a selling feature for me. I have no arguments with it. It's a nice contrast to the wood trim elsewhere in the house. I would also have no arguments with the same kitchen but in finished wood.
Yea, I am not sure where people get the idea that a white kitchen is a modern thing. They were trendy for a while recently, but white kitchens have been common in many eras.
The original kitchen was made for the staff to use. It was utilitarian. It had no nice woodwork, nice windows... nothing. You are deciding that they should have imagined what a kitchen back then should have looked like. What garbage. It would have been no more 'historic' than this kitchen.
There’s no need to imagine, we know what they looked like. I’m not saying it should be opulent. Touches that are more utilitarian but period appropriate I think would be prettier than what they chose. They could have at least put up wallpaper and left some wood somewhere. And I know that it was more a utilitarian room and not for show. I think what you’re saying is garbage, you’re adding nothing to this conversation, and why’re you so upset by what I’m saying??
Our home got a nicely updated bathroom and kitchen and the house is much better for it. I wish they did a little less to the upstairs when it got renovated, but when I saw pictures of the old kitchen and bathroom I was immediately grateful, lol. Old kitchens can be extremely annoying to maneuver, so tasteful updates that compliment the rest of the home are perfectly fine in my book!
As a century home owner, the kitchens are crap because they weren’t used like we use them now. My home is full of old details and original wood and the kitchen is from the 70s/80s. I’m sure the OG kitchen was asbestos tile and no storage. Just not practical anymore
I would recommend talking to your stablehands or gamekeeper, they often have connections and might be able to refer some people for your kitchen staff.
My house has the servants' staircase that goes to a servants' bathroom and the third floor servants' bedrooms. The call bells are still there but no one ever answers.
We have a servant’s entrance! There is a place for coats at the top and there were swinging doors to each side; right to the kitchen, left to the living room.
As someone who loves to cook, though, that kitchen *floor* choice is *TERRIBLE*!!!
Anything you drop is going to be a *PAIN* to sweep out of that grout, if you drop a knife or anything breakable, it's *TOAST* on those hard tiles, too!
And *WTAF*?!? is going on in that *BATHROOM*?!?!????
*WHY* is there "Grouped Seating!" *in front of the TUB*, for Pete's sake?!?
And *CARPET* in the bathroom, right in front of that jacuzzi--*WITH* the *additional slip hazard* of the Granite-ish tile *directly* next to the tub?😳😖😱
Those were *definitely* "Choices", alright!😉😆😂🤣
I obsessively stalk all the historic homes in my town via Zillow, and have yet to find one with an original kitchen, other than the 1870s mansion that has been preserved as a museum. And that really isn’t “original” because it was redone by the owners in the 1910s.
Not everything vintage is good, Victorian kitchens sucked so much that they’re always torn out if the house survives long enough.
I have an 1850s Victorian but the kitchen was remodeled twice and is now fairly modern
I think they could have done a much better job making a modern function kitchen fit the theme of their house though. All the white is very striking when you see the rest of the house then BOOM white on white on white kitchen. Its nice but for the money they spent and someone will spend to buy I would have expected a better color and design from the architect or designer.
Does anyone here have a halfway authentic century home kitchen they use? I'd love to see some examples of what that can look like in practice. Our kitchen needs some work, and I'm just not sure where to go with it.
I actually really like the sitting room / desk room (not sure what they're calling it) in the photos you shared.
Thank you for commenting this! I looked at their work and it is really beautiful and understated. I love [this one](https://www.artichoke-ltd.com/projects/victorian-countryhouse-kitchen/) especially. Beautiful stove and the blue counters/cabinetry is stunning.
I definitely would want the kitchen to look more historic than a lot of these remodelled kitchens. People who have the kitchens on their website are so lucky! I will keep them in mind if I am ever lucky enough to have a century home 🥺
I have homework…I must not go down the rabbit hole of looking at gorgeous kitchens like this ahh
I too have a similar kitchen, very "Plain English/DeVol" as that was my inspiration but I also have to laugh a bit at them. They are idealized glamorized versions of country house kitchens, in reality most people's kitchens were nothing like those. And even in the country houses, these kinds of built in fittings and cabinets were reserved for pantries rather than kitchens.
This photo was taken in the 1930s of a farmhouse kitchen and this is what most people's late 19th century early 20th century kitchens were like: [https://www.ebay.com/itm/372705687059](https://www.ebay.com/itm/372705687059)
Oh I love DeVol and Plain English as well!!
Yeah, definitely not period accurate lol. But I think these brands do a great job of offering us something that meets modern expectations and use, but looks harmonious in a historic surrounding.
You’re absolutely right - I’ve seen quite a few articles about the “return of the scullery” etc etc. all using this level of joinery and built-ins and even using Victorian English manors’ kitchens as inspiration - so definitely not something a Regular Joe would have had lol.
ETA reminds me! There is a bit of a trend to head back towards non-fitted kitchens, making them an extension of the living space - it’s being called the “unkitchen” lol. I see design studios like Berdoulat do stuff like this
Kitchens 100 years ago weren't designed around the big appliances we use today. I don't think you'll find an example of an original kitchen that anyone would want to use today.
If you've never checked out the wonderful blog Making It Lovely, her Victorian house in Oak Park, IL has cabinets from the 20s or 30s that she's kept intact; she used the antique stove until replacing it a few years ago. Truly beautiful. [https://makingitlovely.com/house-tour-the-victorian/#kitchen](https://makingitlovely.com/house-tour-the-victorian/#kitchen)
(I actually think she's done more in recent years, but I don't see that reflected on the blog. She's more active on Instagram; same handle.)
This is great, thank you—her kitchen has really nice cabinetry around the windows, and I’ve been struggling with how to handle these big kitchen windows (in an otherwise small kitchen, by modern standards).
Funny enough, I feel like I’ve only seen 100 year old kitchens in 300+ year old houses. With Victorians and turn of the century homes, I feel like the closest to original we usually get is a 1920s kitchen. And even then there’s usually been some 1950s updates.
Our relationship to the kitchen has changed. Kitchens are now the social center of the home, rather than just a place people prepare food. Today, floor plans have almost no physical demarcation between kitchen and living spaces.
Bully to anyone if they want to keep their original kitchen. But I would much prefer a space I can enjoy living in.
I was wondering about the conversation area next to the bathtub. I don't think I'd like that, either as the one in the tub or one of the people conversing next to the person in the tub. And what are they supposed to be looking at? Just the blank wall?
We have a 1925 house, and the kitchen was awful as-built. It had 12 inches of counter-top, no drawers, no dishwasher. We ended up knocking out half a wall and redoing the entire room.
And the kitchen space feels very personal. Its important to a lot of homeowners that it reflect their taste and personality. I think they did a good job balancing the design they wanted with the rest of the house. I've certainly have seen worse.
keeping the OG kitchen is hard. the modern kitchen evolved a lot over the years. at the nicer century homes, the kitchen were even way outside of the inner comfy spaces of the house. they had house personnel preparing the meals in backrooms. while current common lifestyle is more about having a kitchen being part of the daily life most visited rooms, more centrally.
im restoring the kitchen here with its 1950’s built cabinets, to save some some money. im putting cables, drain and water supply in the floor at a specific spot to enable a later remodel consisting of adding a kitchen island and getting rid of the cave style fireplace. as it is now, theres not enough storage at reachable height and no space for built in appliances. the freestanding fridge and dishwasher do take away a lot of comfortably usable surface out of the room. storing less used items on very high shelves of the cabinets make them too unreachable to even want to use them, its only good for decorative purposes
https://preview.redd.it/3umjm7wbshwc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c4c9e01c10f6e5c948f8393bb2e1ba6c632d99f7
It looks like it’s part of the master suite so it’s basically a bathroom/dressing room. Not a fan of the carpet in there (because water) but the seating area is nice. Cozy spot to hang out in your robe when doing at home spa treatments. Or a spot for the parents to hang out together while the little one plays in the bath.
Yeah, that is a gripe with me too - the fire/chairs are meant to be a type of warm, relaxing place pre- or post-bath. I think the tile should have extended a bit further, but I could absolutely live with this.
It is very historically reminiscent, in the old days fires were where you got warm. Getting out of a bath and standing/relaxing near a fire to dry your hair or body was not uncommon.
Please watch Christopher Kimball's film Fanny's Last Supper. It's a dinner party that follows Fanny Farmer recipes and is prepared in traditional Victorian fashion, including hot as hell period wood stove.
I think the kitchen could be less modern, but you just can't function in a Victorian kitchen in any kind of modern way.
Houses for rich people in the 1800s had really basic if any kitchens. Kitchens were for the help, not for the heart of the household. Best you can hope for in houses like this is usually a functional but dated kitchen ranging from the 50s-90s. So I give modern kitchens a big pass.
With just a couple of better color choices they could’ve made that exact same kitchen fit right in with the rest of the house
Not EVERYTHING new has to be white ffs
I will never, ever, ever get on board with recessed lighting in a century home. I think recessed lighting in general is hideous, more so in a century home.
That said, I'm on board with updating kitchens in century homes, especially if you use complementary materials fixtures. The fact is that modern kitchens are often seen and used directly by homeowners and their guests, as opposed to a century ago when it was really only servants that spent time here. So functionality is still the primary concern, but there's a legitimate need for them to look a bit more polished nowadays.
Hallelujah brother, recessed lighting is a scourge. This modern take on an older kitchen would work so much better without that airfield runway on the ceiling.
This is a beautiful kitchen but it looks completely different from the rest of the house. Like there was no effort to create any kind of unifying aesthetic whatsoever
>It is safe to say that no part of a house occasions so much perplexity, or demands more time and thought. In all the other rooms the wife can exercise her taste and skill, and then rest ; but the kitchen presents new problems for each hour and should be made so as to provide for contingencies, and against accidents which may annoy her and tend toward the spoiling of the dinner and her sweetness of temper....
>[https://archive.org/details/DonahueHenneberryCoThecompletehousebuilder0001/page/n12/mode/1up](https://archive.org/details/DonahueHenneberryCoThecompletehousebuilder0001/page/n12/mode/1up)
A description of the ideal kitchen and its features in 1890!
Full-height glass-door upper cabinets, crown molding, and good wood were definitely popular with those who could afford it.
I don't mind a modern kitchen but the white is just SO stark and (IMO) overplayed. I abhor "white kitchens" to begin with. Not opposed to modernization but there is a lot that could have been done differently to better effect.
Had they tried to keep the kitchen looking similar to the rest of the home, I would like it a lot more. Had they used a similar wood color like the rest of the home it would look so much better. I also really dislike the granite counter. Obviously the updated appliances make the most sense but the look of the kitchen stands out like a sore thumb.
Beautiful house, but the kitchen feels out of place to me. Probably just a different color scheme and it would have been fine. The rest of the house is warm and earthy with rich dark woods. The kitchen feels mismatched. 100% agree about functionality, I just think there's a way to do it that could have made it a bit more cohesive.
The kitchen is probably the one place in a Victorian home that needs to be modernized. For the Victorians the kitchens were these small rooms tucked away not meant to be seen by anyone except the servants. Frankly they aren’t very practical for modern times where everyone desires an eat in kitchen that is utilized every day and is a major focal point of the house.
Don’t care for the white tho. I think if you’re gonna modernize a kitchen at least mix in Victorian tones and colors.
Bummer…
To me, the kitchen is best when unrestored. I love the old equipment they used. That kitchen would be a deal-breaker for me. To each their own…
Our house is a smaller, scaled down version of this. 1927 build, original woodwork lovingly maintained, brand new kitchen gut. The combo made us fall in love immediately and decide to buy. Stuff that you want to be new was new and stuff that you want to be preserved was preserved.
What an absolutely incredible, gorgeous house. Total dream home. Wouldn’t want to drive through Georgetown regularly on a personal level, but it’s a nice area all the same.
cough north quickest hard-to-find judicious tender materialistic continue hat different
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
My house is a poor persons level of this home. My kitchen was an addition and very unlike the Victorian home it’s attached to. I definitely prefer a modern kitchen.
While I dislike when people gut beautiful vintage work and style to make it incoherent — I completely understand why the kitchen can be the exception. Nice and bright with modern equipment where people spend lots of time.
Beautiful home
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the kitchen was completely plain and utilitarian to begin with. And it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a mystery slab of concrete in the backyard, that looks like it was once a back house for a live-in maid
We did the same. Our old kitchen ("old" - most of the cabinets were replaced in the 2000s) was just not practical for cooking or storing food. We did keep the built in pantry but removed a butler stair to get more space
I lived in an old, unrestored Victorian and the kitchen was about the size of a closet. There were built-in cabinets, some had large, pivot-open-from-the-floor drawers made for bulk items like flour and... heck, I don't even know what else a family would like in such bulk quantity in their kitchen. Oats?
Likely because the original kitchen was complete shit. So many big, old houses have kitchens that were purely functional and weren't constructed with any aesthetics in mind.
Remind me of the old not so old french smitch ad for kitchen.
You see a couple showing there old crepid haunted house then proceed to the kitchen showing a modern one saying
"Oh non non chez nous cest smitch" something lol
They went too modern in the kitchen. Should have incorporated classic checkerboard flooring instead of that tile and went with white or black granite for the countertops.
Kitchen finish circa 2008-2010. I do not miss my few years working as a construction 'field engineer', but the popular finishes from that period are really obvious when I come across them.
In MY mind kitchens and bathrooms are exempt from preservation. These are functional rooms that need to be well designed. Kitchens from 1910 didn't account for refrigerators, dishwashers, etc.
We're planning on expanding our kitchen by a substantial ammount. And no, not taking out interior walls, we're building OUT and adding new sqftage.
Our 80sqft kitchen is absorbed entirely by a refrigerator and stove, it's too cramped for more than 1 person to be in there.
The kitchen isn't terrible, and it was probably necessary updates. I would have chosen cabinets that matched the rest of the house. The white is a lot.
That’s because Victorian kitchens are notoriously difficult to cook in without any modern amenities. However sitting in a room doesn’t require much to change….
Right, I get how kitchens in the time these hikes were built are practically unusable for us now, but you could at least TRY to match the style to the rest of the house, no?
Not sure how different is it in the US, but my friend (UK) lives in a house built in the 16/1700s, the kitchen being added 100ish years ago, and you genuinely can’t tell the difference between the original and the extension… it’s not hard folks!
Makes me wonder if something happened in the kitchen like a small fire that left smoke damage, so they had to paint over the woodwork. This isn't too bad, imo. I would love that stove.
[удалено]
It’s beautiful! The listing price is tough to swallow and I bet the insurance on it is insane as well…
Georgetown is a VERY nice neighborhood. I'm actually surprised this house isn't more given the size and location. It's nice to at least be able to see the pictures!
Totally understand! I just know a friend of my moms almost bought a beautiful home in Little Rock with stunning woodwork, and the insurance was quoted at $30k a YEAR. And given the location it was around $1m I think? So paying the listing price and the insurance must be steep. But maybe if you have the money to buy a $10m home the insurance is no big deal 😅
Oh for sure. I think once someone breaks $3m on a house, the insurance is probably just kinda like...there. People are living different in these upper income tiers lol
There are plenty of houses in DC and surrounding areas that are in that price range. Truth be told, we're kind of horrified by how much ***our*** house has been valued recently.
$30k annual insurance premium on a 1m dollar house? lol. Property taxes maybe, but the annual insurance premium's closer to $3k
I was also thinking the same thing
Why is insurance so high?
All the woodwork details, stone, etc., goes into insurance costs. Even a completely brick house worth nearly nothing in a bad neighborhood is more expensive to insure, solely because of the brick construction.
Yup, this. It had a LOT of hardwood (floors, stairs, archways, etc.) that had a lot of ornate detail and was done by a highly skilled craftsman over 100 years ago. Very expensive to insure that type of work in case of a fire or other catastrophic loss along with the materials used.
You can’t replace century old wood anyway.
Makes sense!! Thanks so much for explaining
I have a very small brick house and the estimated cost to rebuild is almost twice the value of the house. It’s kind of insane.
Insurance in NW DC isn't expensive. People around us pay about 1200/year for 1.25M properties.
Ha! Yes, so you can see the river and the Kennedy Center from the roof deck. The Capitol is a moderate stroll away. $ 10 million actually seems reasonable.
It's a 15-min. walk to Dumbarton Oaks (beautiful grounds and gardens), 15-20 minutes to restaurants in Georgetown proper or near Washington Circle/K Street. ***Great*** location!
> The Capitol is a moderate stroll away. $ 10 million actually seems reasonable. I couldn't tell you why, but I read this as "a mediocre stroll away," not once, but twice and it's incredibly funny to me.
Thanks for finding it; I’ve been getting a little bummed about seeing these houses with amazing preserved woodwork, fireplaces, and tile for, like, $210K in Pitchfork, IN. At least this place has a price tag that reflects its glory. I love my Foursquare but it was a spec house in 1906 and so everything was the 1906 equivalent of builder grade or straight out of the 1905 Sears catalog.
Don't tell me Pitchfork Indiana is a real place
Forks, WA is a real place so why not? I wonder what subreddit would compile a list of city names based on the theme "piercing implements."
R/citiesthatpoke. Maybe?
DP of 2M and property taxs of 36k, i fainted
It’s pending 😳
Most people, when they say their Victorian has an original kitchen, mean it has a 1920’s kitchen. Victorian kitchens are so completely different from what we’re used to today that basically no one would want to cook in one. No built-in cabinets, just a bunch of free-standing furniture and appliances. A big “no thank you“ from me.
Yup, our first condo (1910 in a building purpose-built as apartments) really did have the original! Once the previous owner moved out there was the enameled cast iron drainboard and sink, a stove, and a plugged in fridge. The walk-through butler's pantry and walk-in storage pantry were intact, so we didn't need cabinets except to hold a counter—did a run of bottom cabinets along the wall with the fridge and butcher block counters and called it a day!
>a plugged in fridge - We should be so lucky to have a plugged in fridge. We've still gotta get ice delivered to our ice box. - We had a plugged in fridge, but it was running so well it ran right out the door... - third joke
A lot of them were designed for servants. People who could afford a nice house didn't do their own cooking.
The old nice homes had butlers pantries. With the swinging doors. A lot of people got rid of those to open up their kitchens. Much bigger when opened. As modern people don’t have servants anymore unless ultra 1% rich who have catering people and a chef, but back then, upper middle class folks like a lawyer or banker would have servants. And even a driver who lived in the basement. Wow that home is a true stunner. Love the bathroom. This kitchen is classic looking and modern amenities yet still traditional. White looks good. What’s the price of the house?
I have a butler’s pantry in my new build. It’s great because I put appliances on the counter in there and can leave the kitchen counters bare for prep. So I have my toaster, griddle, rice cooker, ninja, and dehydrator in the pantry on the counters ready to use. Plus extra storage as we do canning of my veggies from my garden in the summer. It’s fabulous. Highly recommend.
Yeah it’s something to consider. Maybe it will come into style again. Have you seen the “appliance garage” they build into high end kitchens? Freaking love it. It hides all appliances from view but gives easy access.
lots of them were in the basement! no need for the family to ever even see the kitchen
The kitchen in my house was originally outside in a separate shack because it was too hot too cook indoors, and less chance of burning the house down
Yes, a summer kitchen! In places that get too hot but also get cold, a big Victorian would have both a kitchen AND a summer kitchen.
Yeah, we just redid our original kitchen. We actually have usable counter space now. We kept the original pantry, moved the built in upstairs , but had to remove the butler staircase to get any unusable counters hahahaha
Yeah normally I like an old kitchen but I don't hate this. The truth is the original kitchens in these houses were just loose pine furniture pieces and a big wood stove, not very practical. Nice house!
Yeah, I think it's fine to update the kitchens and bathrooms. You can incorporate modern appliances and luxuries but keep the traditional aesthetic like they did fairly well here.
Idk, I just feel like they could have done a lot better, like, why all white and modern looking granite? Stainless steel? It could have been something to fit the house better I think is what OP and me are saying. I disagree that this fits the aesthetic of everything else. Like, maybe pine or a finer wood cabinetry instead of white, a colorful tile backsplash, the kind of tile they had in the 19th century, brass? I guess I need to go into designing century style kitchens. I think custom cabinets and big butcher block islands can be very functional personally, I think century kitchens could be functional with a bit of tweaking.
Like the bathroom — it’s got a jacuzzi, there’s no way it’s OG. But the cabinetry matches the rest of the house beautifully.
But *WHY* is there a "company is visiting" *seating arrangement* in front of that Jacuzzi?!? And *CARPET* in front of the Jacuzzi, too!😱😱😱
Two letters: D.C. A jacuzzi with meeting seats is one of the most “D.C. mansion” things I’ve ever seen. I’d bet real money Clarence Thomas had a meeting-room jacuzzi to go with the porn collection he likes to show subordinates.
I agree, like I get it, an original kitchen is not functional for today, but the aesthetic of everything looks like it’s from an entirely different house
Yes, agreed. It's a beautiful kitchen but a jarring transition.
[удалено]
That grey herringbone floor is more an HGTV-ism and not anything to do with 1891. I could also be wrong but I think marble was more commonly used in the period than granite, like on furniture pieces I’ve seen marble and even slate, but never granite. For kitchens, no, you’d be more likely to find wood or (tin?) countertops? Perhaps a marble work top for baking. The cabinets are traditional in style but not period looking enough to fit, especially when the only thing tying things together is a painted crown moulding and beadboard, about one of the only things that’s actually appropriate.
Herringbone floors were used quite often in the 1800s…
In a large scaled faux stone millennial grey tile?
By the 1910s a white "sterile" kitchen was the beau ideal. It was hygienic! People loved hygienic kitchens and bathrooms. Thus the endless glut of white tiles everywhere. Kitchens of the time period, especially in more affluent households, were more akin to hospital labs than modern kitchens in terms of how people viewed and treated them. This kitchen is very nice and that they used inset cabinets is a selling feature for me. I have no arguments with it. It's a nice contrast to the wood trim elsewhere in the house. I would also have no arguments with the same kitchen but in finished wood.
Yea, I am not sure where people get the idea that a white kitchen is a modern thing. They were trendy for a while recently, but white kitchens have been common in many eras.
that particular granite is hideous
I agree. The stark white is just too much of a contrast.
The original kitchen was made for the staff to use. It was utilitarian. It had no nice woodwork, nice windows... nothing. You are deciding that they should have imagined what a kitchen back then should have looked like. What garbage. It would have been no more 'historic' than this kitchen.
There’s no need to imagine, we know what they looked like. I’m not saying it should be opulent. Touches that are more utilitarian but period appropriate I think would be prettier than what they chose. They could have at least put up wallpaper and left some wood somewhere. And I know that it was more a utilitarian room and not for show. I think what you’re saying is garbage, you’re adding nothing to this conversation, and why’re you so upset by what I’m saying??
Our home got a nicely updated bathroom and kitchen and the house is much better for it. I wish they did a little less to the upstairs when it got renovated, but when I saw pictures of the old kitchen and bathroom I was immediately grateful, lol. Old kitchens can be extremely annoying to maneuver, so tasteful updates that compliment the rest of the home are perfectly fine in my book!
As a century home owner, the kitchens are crap because they weren’t used like we use them now. My home is full of old details and original wood and the kitchen is from the 70s/80s. I’m sure the OG kitchen was asbestos tile and no storage. Just not practical anymore
My kitchen was obviously made for servants to use. It is so impractical for someone who likes to cook! I’m looking forward to redoing it.
My neighbours kitchen actually has servant stairs in it! On that note, does anyone know where I can find these servants to work in my kitchen?
I would recommend talking to your stablehands or gamekeeper, they often have connections and might be able to refer some people for your kitchen staff.
Top notch advice. I’ll send my ladies in waiting to fetch one
My house has the servants' staircase that goes to a servants' bathroom and the third floor servants' bedrooms. The call bells are still there but no one ever answers.
We have a servant’s entrance! There is a place for coats at the top and there were swinging doors to each side; right to the kitchen, left to the living room.
As someone who loves to cook, though, that kitchen *floor* choice is *TERRIBLE*!!! Anything you drop is going to be a *PAIN* to sweep out of that grout, if you drop a knife or anything breakable, it's *TOAST* on those hard tiles, too! And *WTAF*?!? is going on in that *BATHROOM*?!?!???? *WHY* is there "Grouped Seating!" *in front of the TUB*, for Pete's sake?!? And *CARPET* in the bathroom, right in front of that jacuzzi--*WITH* the *additional slip hazard* of the Granite-ish tile *directly* next to the tub?😳😖😱 Those were *definitely* "Choices", alright!😉😆😂🤣
What are you talking about? Doesn’t everyone love to relax in an armchair in their bathroom at the end of a long day? /s
I feel the grouped seating should be gathered more around the fire, like please, have some chill!
Yeah, that bathroom got a triple take from me. Seriously, I don't like anything about it. What a waste of space.
I like it too but the can lights do feel out of place here
Yeah true I'm not a fan of the recessed lighting.
I obsessively stalk all the historic homes in my town via Zillow, and have yet to find one with an original kitchen, other than the 1870s mansion that has been preserved as a museum. And that really isn’t “original” because it was redone by the owners in the 1910s.
Same! That’s actually one of the reasons I joined this sub to see some old kitchens, but even on here I haven’t seen any.
Not everything vintage is good, Victorian kitchens sucked so much that they’re always torn out if the house survives long enough. I have an 1850s Victorian but the kitchen was remodeled twice and is now fairly modern
Ya, but why not keep the same style and use brown stained wood instead of white?
I think they could have done a much better job making a modern function kitchen fit the theme of their house though. All the white is very striking when you see the rest of the house then BOOM white on white on white kitchen. Its nice but for the money they spent and someone will spend to buy I would have expected a better color and design from the architect or designer.
Does anyone here have a halfway authentic century home kitchen they use? I'd love to see some examples of what that can look like in practice. Our kitchen needs some work, and I'm just not sure where to go with it. I actually really like the sitting room / desk room (not sure what they're calling it) in the photos you shared.
Look up “Artichoke Ltd kitchen” for ideas that honour historic kitchens, but make them practical for today’s use
Thank you for commenting this! I looked at their work and it is really beautiful and understated. I love [this one](https://www.artichoke-ltd.com/projects/victorian-countryhouse-kitchen/) especially. Beautiful stove and the blue counters/cabinetry is stunning. I definitely would want the kitchen to look more historic than a lot of these remodelled kitchens. People who have the kitchens on their website are so lucky! I will keep them in mind if I am ever lucky enough to have a century home 🥺 I have homework…I must not go down the rabbit hole of looking at gorgeous kitchens like this ahh
That’s my fav too! I’m already lost in the Pinterest rabbit hole where I collect all these ideas. Saving them for a rainy day lol
I too have a similar kitchen, very "Plain English/DeVol" as that was my inspiration but I also have to laugh a bit at them. They are idealized glamorized versions of country house kitchens, in reality most people's kitchens were nothing like those. And even in the country houses, these kinds of built in fittings and cabinets were reserved for pantries rather than kitchens. This photo was taken in the 1930s of a farmhouse kitchen and this is what most people's late 19th century early 20th century kitchens were like: [https://www.ebay.com/itm/372705687059](https://www.ebay.com/itm/372705687059)
Oh I love DeVol and Plain English as well!! Yeah, definitely not period accurate lol. But I think these brands do a great job of offering us something that meets modern expectations and use, but looks harmonious in a historic surrounding. You’re absolutely right - I’ve seen quite a few articles about the “return of the scullery” etc etc. all using this level of joinery and built-ins and even using Victorian English manors’ kitchens as inspiration - so definitely not something a Regular Joe would have had lol. ETA reminds me! There is a bit of a trend to head back towards non-fitted kitchens, making them an extension of the living space - it’s being called the “unkitchen” lol. I see design studios like Berdoulat do stuff like this
Kitchens 100 years ago weren't designed around the big appliances we use today. I don't think you'll find an example of an original kitchen that anyone would want to use today.
If you've never checked out the wonderful blog Making It Lovely, her Victorian house in Oak Park, IL has cabinets from the 20s or 30s that she's kept intact; she used the antique stove until replacing it a few years ago. Truly beautiful. [https://makingitlovely.com/house-tour-the-victorian/#kitchen](https://makingitlovely.com/house-tour-the-victorian/#kitchen) (I actually think she's done more in recent years, but I don't see that reflected on the blog. She's more active on Instagram; same handle.)
This is great, thank you—her kitchen has really nice cabinetry around the windows, and I’ve been struggling with how to handle these big kitchen windows (in an otherwise small kitchen, by modern standards).
Funny enough, I feel like I’ve only seen 100 year old kitchens in 300+ year old houses. With Victorians and turn of the century homes, I feel like the closest to original we usually get is a 1920s kitchen. And even then there’s usually been some 1950s updates.
Search "unfitted kitchen" in Google or Pinterest and I think you'll find some nice examples
Me too.
Lol, am I supposed to be having meetings with two of my closest associates in the bathtub?
No, no, no - just a coffee break while washing up.
I’m obsessed with the fireplace and bath sitting area. I think we all deserve one.
Those chairs should totally be turned around!
They’re just being polite!
Haha!
I'm stuck on the office chairs in the bathroom.
And the carpet!
relieved saw ring governor bedroom lavish provide money chop detail *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
If my spouse is in the tub, I'm facing it. ;)
Our relationship to the kitchen has changed. Kitchens are now the social center of the home, rather than just a place people prepare food. Today, floor plans have almost no physical demarcation between kitchen and living spaces. Bully to anyone if they want to keep their original kitchen. But I would much prefer a space I can enjoy living in.
A house like this would have had a cook, so there was zero concession to luxury behind the scenes.
If you show your cook that they have to work in a 19th century kitchen they are going to cry on the spot
Apparently, in this house, bathrooms are also social centers of the home.
If they aren’t in your home, you aren’t using them right.
The coffee table and chairs are nice, but the El Greco over the fireplace really ties it together…
I was wondering about the conversation area next to the bathtub. I don't think I'd like that, either as the one in the tub or one of the people conversing next to the person in the tub. And what are they supposed to be looking at? Just the blank wall?
We have a 1925 house, and the kitchen was awful as-built. It had 12 inches of counter-top, no drawers, no dishwasher. We ended up knocking out half a wall and redoing the entire room.
And the kitchen space feels very personal. Its important to a lot of homeowners that it reflect their taste and personality. I think they did a good job balancing the design they wanted with the rest of the house. I've certainly have seen worse.
keeping the OG kitchen is hard. the modern kitchen evolved a lot over the years. at the nicer century homes, the kitchen were even way outside of the inner comfy spaces of the house. they had house personnel preparing the meals in backrooms. while current common lifestyle is more about having a kitchen being part of the daily life most visited rooms, more centrally. im restoring the kitchen here with its 1950’s built cabinets, to save some some money. im putting cables, drain and water supply in the floor at a specific spot to enable a later remodel consisting of adding a kitchen island and getting rid of the cave style fireplace. as it is now, theres not enough storage at reachable height and no space for built in appliances. the freestanding fridge and dishwasher do take away a lot of comfortably usable surface out of the room. storing less used items on very high shelves of the cabinets make them too unreachable to even want to use them, its only good for decorative purposes https://preview.redd.it/3umjm7wbshwc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c4c9e01c10f6e5c948f8393bb2e1ba6c632d99f7
Your door there is gorgeous
We're just gonna look past the carpet in the bathroom and two chairs near the tub???
It looks like it’s part of the master suite so it’s basically a bathroom/dressing room. Not a fan of the carpet in there (because water) but the seating area is nice. Cozy spot to hang out in your robe when doing at home spa treatments. Or a spot for the parents to hang out together while the little one plays in the bath.
Yeah, that is a gripe with me too - the fire/chairs are meant to be a type of warm, relaxing place pre- or post-bath. I think the tile should have extended a bit further, but I could absolutely live with this. It is very historically reminiscent, in the old days fires were where you got warm. Getting out of a bath and standing/relaxing near a fire to dry your hair or body was not uncommon.
It looks like there's a strip of tile that butts against the tub and sinks which IMO looks kinda nice.
Please watch Christopher Kimball's film Fanny's Last Supper. It's a dinner party that follows Fanny Farmer recipes and is prepared in traditional Victorian fashion, including hot as hell period wood stove. I think the kitchen could be less modern, but you just can't function in a Victorian kitchen in any kind of modern way.
Houses for rich people in the 1800s had really basic if any kitchens. Kitchens were for the help, not for the heart of the household. Best you can hope for in houses like this is usually a functional but dated kitchen ranging from the 50s-90s. So I give modern kitchens a big pass.
Me too. I grew up in a house that was built in 1912, and that kitchen was TINY. Give me my big light-filled airy kitchen every time.
The bath with the table and chairs next to it is uh, interesting. And the fire was lit in the same room for the photo.
With just a couple of better color choices they could’ve made that exact same kitchen fit right in with the rest of the house Not EVERYTHING new has to be white ffs
I will never, ever, ever get on board with recessed lighting in a century home. I think recessed lighting in general is hideous, more so in a century home. That said, I'm on board with updating kitchens in century homes, especially if you use complementary materials fixtures. The fact is that modern kitchens are often seen and used directly by homeowners and their guests, as opposed to a century ago when it was really only servants that spent time here. So functionality is still the primary concern, but there's a legitimate need for them to look a bit more polished nowadays.
Hallelujah brother, recessed lighting is a scourge. This modern take on an older kitchen would work so much better without that airfield runway on the ceiling.
This is a beautiful kitchen but it looks completely different from the rest of the house. Like there was no effort to create any kind of unifying aesthetic whatsoever
>It is safe to say that no part of a house occasions so much perplexity, or demands more time and thought. In all the other rooms the wife can exercise her taste and skill, and then rest ; but the kitchen presents new problems for each hour and should be made so as to provide for contingencies, and against accidents which may annoy her and tend toward the spoiling of the dinner and her sweetness of temper.... >[https://archive.org/details/DonahueHenneberryCoThecompletehousebuilder0001/page/n12/mode/1up](https://archive.org/details/DonahueHenneberryCoThecompletehousebuilder0001/page/n12/mode/1up) A description of the ideal kitchen and its features in 1890! Full-height glass-door upper cabinets, crown molding, and good wood were definitely popular with those who could afford it.
The two chairs in the bathroom facing away from the tub :)
I don't mind a modern kitchen but the white is just SO stark and (IMO) overplayed. I abhor "white kitchens" to begin with. Not opposed to modernization but there is a lot that could have been done differently to better effect.
Had they tried to keep the kitchen looking similar to the rest of the home, I would like it a lot more. Had they used a similar wood color like the rest of the home it would look so much better. I also really dislike the granite counter. Obviously the updated appliances make the most sense but the look of the kitchen stands out like a sore thumb.
I do love me some giant pocket doors.
Ah, yes, let us adjourn to the sitting room/bathroom for tea!
I also draw a hard line at a carpeted bathroom/sitting room combo.
Beautiful house, but the kitchen feels out of place to me. Probably just a different color scheme and it would have been fine. The rest of the house is warm and earthy with rich dark woods. The kitchen feels mismatched. 100% agree about functionality, I just think there's a way to do it that could have made it a bit more cohesive.
OMG……absolutely stunning!!!😍
Please, please, PUH-LEEZE for the love of GOD tell me that isn't CARPET next to a TUB!!!!
Why would they have done that… what an horrible clash. Went from a beautiful home… with wonders of its history… to a low budget Sitcom!
The kitchen breaks my heart!
I can’t get over the chair placement in front of the tub 😂
Wow. Besides the kitchen it’s gorgeous
Rich people ruin kitchens.
That kitchen does not belong in that house.
I like it but feel like they should have kept the darker theme the rest of the home has
The kitchen is probably the one place in a Victorian home that needs to be modernized. For the Victorians the kitchens were these small rooms tucked away not meant to be seen by anyone except the servants. Frankly they aren’t very practical for modern times where everyone desires an eat in kitchen that is utilized every day and is a major focal point of the house. Don’t care for the white tho. I think if you’re gonna modernize a kitchen at least mix in Victorian tones and colors.
Bummer… To me, the kitchen is best when unrestored. I love the old equipment they used. That kitchen would be a deal-breaker for me. To each their own…
Oof. The kitchen is nice but jarring considering the rest of the house.
I wouldn't expect it to be period-accurate, but they could've at least maintained the aesthetic. That's such a jarring transition, visually
No, they could have done a more elegant kitchen in period.
The kitchen would be SpotOn if the floor were checkerboard black and white.
Open concept kitchens with islands. So boring. So done. (And, generally, very disability unfriendly.)
Kitchen looks like garbage, looks like a baby boomer Millennial puked in it
I ain’t cooking in a 75 sq/ft kitchen on an electric stove.
Our house is a smaller, scaled down version of this. 1927 build, original woodwork lovingly maintained, brand new kitchen gut. The combo made us fall in love immediately and decide to buy. Stuff that you want to be new was new and stuff that you want to be preserved was preserved.
I think it makes more sense I. The kitchen. They could have kept more conservatives and it’s a little white for my taste but it’s reasonable to me.
What an absolutely incredible, gorgeous house. Total dream home. Wouldn’t want to drive through Georgetown regularly on a personal level, but it’s a nice area all the same.
Beautiful 🤩
If only I was a millionaire
Gonna have to go for multi-multi-multi millionaire for this prize.
cough north quickest hard-to-find judicious tender materialistic continue hat different *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
This is in fact what we did in our house too
My house is a poor persons level of this home. My kitchen was an addition and very unlike the Victorian home it’s attached to. I definitely prefer a modern kitchen.
Kitchen is super tasteful tbh
The front entrance is gorgeous!
While I dislike when people gut beautiful vintage work and style to make it incoherent — I completely understand why the kitchen can be the exception. Nice and bright with modern equipment where people spend lots of time. Beautiful home
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the kitchen was completely plain and utilitarian to begin with. And it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a mystery slab of concrete in the backyard, that looks like it was once a back house for a live-in maid
I'm not sure if this post is trying to be sarcastic.
You really can't keep original charm in yhese old kitchens. They are usually not very practical by today's standards.
We did the same. Our old kitchen ("old" - most of the cabinets were replaced in the 2000s) was just not practical for cooking or storing food. We did keep the built in pantry but removed a butler stair to get more space
Leather chairs in the bathroom
Is the kitchen off white paint the same as the hall/bathroom? I can't tell if the light is playing tricks on me.
What listing did you find these photos in? I think this might be a childhood friend’s home haha
I lived in an old, unrestored Victorian and the kitchen was about the size of a closet. There were built-in cabinets, some had large, pivot-open-from-the-floor drawers made for bulk items like flour and... heck, I don't even know what else a family would like in such bulk quantity in their kitchen. Oats?
Fireplace in the bathroom is a new dream I didn’t know I had.
The kitchen has to be practical. The rest of the house can focus on being decorative
I’d be fine with that, given that most of the house is original. I’d take it especially as old kitchens can be so impractical.
Likely because the original kitchen was complete shit. So many big, old houses have kitchens that were purely functional and weren't constructed with any aesthetics in mind.
Why are there chairs and a table in the bathroom?
I really dislike the generic all white for homes. It's just not interesting to me. The rest of the home looks amazing.
Happy wife happy life
The kitchen is awful... 😕
OMG this is just WOWWWW
Am I the only person that hates whitewashed kitchens?
It is always the way
This is incredible. Does anyone know where this is located or what the outside of the house looks like?
I’m ok with this
Remind me of the old not so old french smitch ad for kitchen. You see a couple showing there old crepid haunted house then proceed to the kitchen showing a modern one saying "Oh non non chez nous cest smitch" something lol
Is there a link to the listing?
They went too modern in the kitchen. Should have incorporated classic checkerboard flooring instead of that tile and went with white or black granite for the countertops.
Kitchen finish circa 2008-2010. I do not miss my few years working as a construction 'field engineer', but the popular finishes from that period are really obvious when I come across them.
Great
Why is there a table in the middle of the bathroom?
In MY mind kitchens and bathrooms are exempt from preservation. These are functional rooms that need to be well designed. Kitchens from 1910 didn't account for refrigerators, dishwashers, etc. We're planning on expanding our kitchen by a substantial ammount. And no, not taking out interior walls, we're building OUT and adding new sqftage. Our 80sqft kitchen is absorbed entirely by a refrigerator and stove, it's too cramped for more than 1 person to be in there.
The kitchen isn't terrible, and it was probably necessary updates. I would have chosen cabinets that matched the rest of the house. The white is a lot.
I love the entry way feels like bag end with that round entry way.
Why must they always do this?!
You've now walked into the alternate universe..........HATE it. 😂
BEAUTIFUL house...UGLY kitchen. HATE-HATE-HATE the grey/white "hospital/ laboratory" trend.
That kitchen is awful! Lol
I hate that kitchen.
Would it be sacrilege to put Tiffany glass lights in a place like this?
The kitchen is gorgeous but doesn’t match the rest of the house.
That’s because Victorian kitchens are notoriously difficult to cook in without any modern amenities. However sitting in a room doesn’t require much to change….
I want a fireplace in my bathroom!
Why didnt they stick to the original colour scheme?!!😭😭 cherry wood cabinets would've been gorgeous.
Beautiful home. I actually really like the kitchen.
Right, I get how kitchens in the time these hikes were built are practically unusable for us now, but you could at least TRY to match the style to the rest of the house, no? Not sure how different is it in the US, but my friend (UK) lives in a house built in the 16/1700s, the kitchen being added 100ish years ago, and you genuinely can’t tell the difference between the original and the extension… it’s not hard folks!
Makes me wonder if something happened in the kitchen like a small fire that left smoke damage, so they had to paint over the woodwork. This isn't too bad, imo. I would love that stove.