While the owner might have been going for the "summer cottage" look, I'm more reminded of the ER where he might have gone to be treated for the summer boating accident. I'm glad he likes it, that's the important part.

Call me crazy, but I really don't find that kitchen inviting at all. The rest of the house is pretty sweet and I love the old rustic style. But to me the kitchen looks like an afterthought that is cheaply done and won't last in time. Just my opinion.

I like it. Its not part of the summer cottage aesthetic, it looks more Italian or German to me--a budget Siematic.

I don't know what is particularly uninviting about it, not everything has to be erzatz country or tuscan to be make a kitchen an ok place to be in.

The kitchen is way too institutional and manufactured to me, whereas the rest of the property is not. Elsewhere there are lots of cool finds, quirky ideas, rough textures and so on, but the kitchen looks like it was extruded.

And yes, it also looks like you should leave a urine sample on it.

The architect/owner is German and emigrated to the US 11 yrs ago, if you scan the article. It isn't unusual to see Europeans put extremely modern kitchens into classic old buildings, in fact. This is because they are comfortable with a truly eclectic environment, and also because in Europe when you sell a house, you take the kitchen appliances and cabinets with you, unlike the US.

Here's the thing most Boomers forget - when we go to sell our houses, they will be bought by Millenials. And most Millenials I know really aren't into country or tuscan styles.

In fact, my nephew bought a million-dollar Mid-Century Modern home with a rather Tuscan kitchen that was installed ten years prior, with honed marble tile counters. He loathes those cabs (painted cream with caramel glazing and arched panel doors) and has no intention of ever dealing with marble counters again even though he likes to bake.

I can totally see him doing something similar to the architect's kitchen, but not in all white. My niece would prefer a more Arts and Craft style, that's the other big design influence for Millenials here in the SF Bay Area. One of her friends, a single financial services exec, just bought a true Arts & Craft home and her friends are super-envious.

What's uninviting about it is the stools stored underneath the counter where the sitter has to wrangle it over the lower stretcher, then sit without being able to tuck under because of that stretcher, and the lower surface, which looks cool, but prevents knees and thighs. Those stools say, "This place looks cool but I don't want you to be comfortable here. Shut up and go sit at the table."

Marcolo, the kitchen was extruded! It's white plastic.

Frankly, I don't think the kitchen looks "designed" at all, especially compared with the rest of the house. Even the wood pile (YUCK! Raw wood in the house. I hope there aren't bugs...) is designed. It looks like he went to Ikea (where his kitchen is from) and bought something cheap, that would disappear as much as possible, and forgot it. The way a lot of people buy toilets.

Ooooh--I like it! I think it was someone on this forum who opined that in an open plan home, much of what the kitchen has to do is contribute its volume and style to the whole house design. I think this kitchen does that quite ably.

It's a cool and spare kitchen, and adds a sculptural quality that contributes to the overall look of the place at a very nice price point.

The angle of the kitchen photo emphasizes the white expanse of cabinetry, but the purple wall at one side and the dark turquoise curtains (shown in another photo) work wonderfully because of all that white. I wonder if TKO people are similarly disturbed by the stark whiteness of the bathroom. Those fixtures area also white--the room is much starker than the kitchen--but the fixtures are much pricier.

I doubt that the kitchen seems a lot of use, and the stools that disturb plllog so much are probably used in the living area more than in the kitchen.

Love the turquoise wall and stools!

Thos stools don't sit there normally. Thats for the photograph: If they were in their real location, probably on the near side of the island, they would be distorted or out of the frame.

And, they are turquoise so leaving them out would make the picture less colorful.--I bet the Le Creuset doesn't sit on the cooktop all the time either. But, it gets lived in and the food and things that are out everyday at the daily color.

I really really love it ! The kitchen isn't to my taste but I can see why he did it and appreciate the look with what else he has going.

I think the colors and textures are remarkable. The artist he rents to does beautiful work and I sure would love to have a painting every 2 months. I also really like the sleeping quarters under the stairs. I wish they had shown the specific spot where you can see the guts of the bldg...where he removed the beams. I also would love to see the gardens and the rooftop. Ah well....maybe on another bike ride up there. c

As for the wood pile most folks have at least some wood stacked in the house. I am sure he has sprayed it with something to prevent total "bugdom" LOL.

The kitchen doesn't look very cottagy to me. I do like it but not in that house.

I will say the furniture looks like my plastic Barbie furniture I got when I was a little kid. :) (I'm 52.) The sofa and the chairs. But I have sponge-like cushions, not real ones.

IMO, this is a case where knowing something of context might help your rating of this kitchen. FWIW, Red Hook is a Brooklyn, New York community currently undergoing a major transformation and revival. A former working class enclave for many who were employed as dockworkers at the waterfront at the turn of the century, Red Hook's character is very industrial. Old factories, now-silent piers and shipyards abound. Many of the streets are paved with cobblestones and much of the original row housing consists of small, modest structures of frame or brick. At the same time, Red Hook is the site of the largest public housing complex in Brooklyn. For this reason and others, Red Hook has always been regarded as a tough and gritty slum located on the New York City waterfront.

Today, however, Red Hook, is experiencing urban renewal. Yet, even as new commercial residential developments begin to flood the area, bringing along waves of young professionals, artists, and "hipsters", the neighborhood still retains a non-pretentious, low-key character. So, within the context of Red Hook, I think this architect is very spot on in terms of the minimalist/semi-industrial design of his kitchen and home -- even though I would never choose such for myself. And, btw, notwithstanding the use of Ikea cabs and corian counters I don't see anything about this kitchen that shouts "plasticky." OTOH, had he gone for, Poggenpohls and marble I think the house itself would have shouted, "that's too much!" lol.

Palimpsest, you're right. I didn't think about non-functional staging. That's why it looked uninviting to me, anyway. So, okay, it's bad photographic storytelling rather than bad host. :)

BTW, I don't dislike the kitchen. It works for the space. But it still looks more like he was making a knock-off Poggenpohl ad, rather than an actual design. OTOH, so many architects design dumb kitchens, maybe it's better that he went with common.

Trailrunner--Eeeewwww squared. BUG SPRAY in the house?!?!? Yuck. There's a difference between bringing in a basket full of dried wood for the fireplace, and stacking whole trees of fresh cut (these were ones he cut down from his yard). The smell alone, without the bug spray, would have me running for the hills.

haha plllog: not sure about the wood pile ! But the bug spray for roaches has no odor, at least here in the South LOL. I bet it is OK in some form or fashion :) I just love what he has done.

I have ridden my bike in that area a lot...those cobbles that Martha mentions are hell on bike tires ! I will have to look for his place next time. c

I find it so interesting about the Corian. I think most of you guys feel, as I do, that it's plasticky and we wouldn't want it in our new kitchens..... but my brother (who is an architect in Norway) lobbied HARD for me to use it when I renovated. I really respect most of his excellent design advice, but I just couldn't get on board with that. So I think it may be a chic European thing that we North Americans don't usually "get". Their Corian counters are nicer looking, though, usually thin and "floating" rather than with contoured edges and backsplashes like the 90's ones we usually picture...

Okay, I'm belaboring the wood pile, but it is a potential health hazzard. :) The no bug spray was about not breathing poison. Even when the poison is adhered to the surface, it gets in the air. The smell thing was about the wet wood. That much green wood smells. Some might like it. Some might be allergic to it. I guess some don't notice it at all.

Staceyneil makes an interesting point. It seems to me that Europeans generally have a more tolerant attitude toward plastic in general. Perhaps it's because so much of the big post-WWII boom of newness is one big plastic heap. In Europe, it was hopeful, rebuilding and all. Here, it was new for the sake of new, and most parts of the country had never been old, while Americans were travelling to Europe and buying up every old thing they could find. I dunno if this scenario has any truth for explaining why the Europeans seem to like plastic better than we do, but it's an idea.

OTOH, it's also likely that guys just think Corian is cool. :)

Corian also gets used an awful lot in contract design. It gets used a fair amount in general, thats why the line expands rather than shrinks.

I think its one of the things that there is a particular bias against in GW that does not reflect the typical viewpoint.

palimsest, I wonder why that is? (the anti-Corian bias here.) I definitely already had it before I discovered this forum when I was designing my kitchen reno. So, maybe one if the reasons I like it here is a like mindset? But then, there are lots and lots of things that "everyone" here likes that I don't. It's interesting...

Also, I think it's a kitchen as part of the overall design, something that as an architect, the homeowner would be focused on. And we don't know how much he cooks, after all - most bachelors I know, and many Europeans, are more inclined to entertain outside the home.

The only people who eat out more often, on average, than SF Bay Area people, are New Yorkers!

I think there are also some practical reasons why people here aren't fond of Corian. It can be scorched. It can be stained. It can be sliced. It can also be sanded and repaired, but a lot of people just live with it and start hating it.

I have some very functional, if ugly, Corian in my studio. I'd rather have granite (though I don't care for granite in my kitchen), but I'm not about to do that! Another attractive thing about Corian is the price.

I don't know if the Corian white is this way (I've only encountered the old stained stuff), but I saw a sample of pure white recycled plastic for counters that was absolutely GORGEOUS. The can't stop petting it kind of gorgeous. And very pure. And very white. Very true white without undertones. If the Corian that architects love is like that, I can certainly understand why!!

I understand that Corian is not bulletproof. It was the original monolithic, solid, material...and still many colors don't try to look like anything they are not. I think this has been supplanted somewhat by Quartz, which is more bulletproof but not as easy to fabricate seamlessly and in interesting ways.

What I don't quite get though is that people lived (and many still do) with laminate--and if you just take care of it, it is a durable material. And taking care of it means wiping up spills, not cutting right on it and not setting hot pans on it...all things you are Supposed to keep in mind with the other materials as well--although perhaps for different reasons.

This expectation that something has to remain pristine even if you don't take care of it very well reminds of a wildly OT but somewhat related (in mentality, I think) trend.

My niece is a kindergarten teacher and has Three children of normal to above average intelligence who are not toilet trained and wear diapers. She used to get one every couple of years with either emotional or behavioral issues.

The reasons provided by parents: "They aren't ready, it was too hard disciplining them like that", I didn't want to break their spirit". "I am too busy, it takes too much time to deal with this every day." "I don't force them to do things they don't want to". "You are the educational professional, You do it."

Pretty soon we will want maintenance free and effort free everything. It doesn't exist.

pal we are getting there. Why do you think texting is so popular...it takes too much effort to talk to folks....it used to be email but has been shortened to texting and now tweeting. Never a complete thought and certainly eliminates the messy contact with people.

Ah well I won't get off on this here...just wanted to add that one thought but there are a ton of examples of folks wanting a " maintenance free and effort free everything".c

lol, Trailrunner! Took the words right out of my head! Thanks for those few, but very profound keystrokes:-)