When you earn a project in a home that comes with great ancestry, you’re best not screw it up. This home was designed by North Shelgren and Swift in 1923, a firm that crafted beautiful traditional buildings from churches to residences; so whatever we did to follow must be done with the same elegant hand.

Although in 1923 most folks did not entertain in the kitchen, that kitchen may have been better than the 1970’s style kitchen that was inherited with this house.

This young, vibrant family knew that the yard promised much as an urban oasis and centerpiece for summer entertaining, so access to it and visibility of it from the kitchen were important considerations in the design. In equal measure the access to the garage and mud room was important to improving quality of life for a family on the go. We opened up the space to natural light and created better circulation and traffic flow throughout the plan whilst preserving traditional details like the pantry. Not your grandmother’s pantry behind swinging doors, but one that functions in much the same way as a buffer to a formal dining space.

The kitchen has always been at the heart of the house, now it’s the most important room in the house, whether Wegmans makes the food or you do…it’s the place we come to socialize with family and friends to nourish body and soul.