The CornueFe seems like the safer bet since Ilve has had some problems in the US market, so future service, warranties and such are not a given with Ilve as far as I am concerned.

Aside from that, I would consider Lacanche as well.

Was just popping on to say, I would look at Lacanche. I agree with @Zalco/bring back Sophie! that CornueFe is definitely the safer bet considering the reviews on here I’ve read about Ilve. When we were researching ovens, I did strongly consider Ilve and LaCornue. I wasn’t sold on either. I stumbled upon Lacanche and was blown away.

We have owned our Lacanche for a little over a year now and I love it. Similar to the CornueFe in that there is no glass on the doors and ovens are smaller. You are right that they will heat up a little faster. I have had no problem fitting a large All Clad roaster in my small ovens and roasting a 20 pound turkey. I’ve used my Dutch oven, large tagine and baked tons of cakes and cookies without issue.

thank you both! we looked at the lacanche online, but weren’t thrilled with how it looks. I have heard very good things about them however. Additionally they are not sold locally, so we would have to order it and have it serviced from a state away which gives us some pause. It sounds like the CornuFe is the safer bet. Good to hear you don’t think the ovens are too small, thats definitely one of our biggest concerns.

@megs1030 which Lacanche style do you have?

@maresh1520, I have a Cluny 1400. Are you considering a Lacanche?

@joe12333, yes Lacanche are sold from France, made to order. No one can order them locally. When my range was serviced shortly after install (small gas leak), I contacted Lacanche and they put me in touch with a local repair service. It was very easy. I’m not sure why yours would have to be serviced from states away?

thanks @megs1030 for your input. when I was speaking about servicing from a state away, I was referring to the Ilve Majestic, which we cannot buy from our local luxury appliance dealer anymore. We went back a few weeks ago and were told that in general, the Ilve is harder to service as they are less common in the American market. He also told us that they are nearly impossible to get at this point due to a recent reorganization of dealerships within the US, meaning we would have to go up to Boston to see one and order it. It sounds like he dealer in Boston would also have to be the ones to services it, which seems a bit like a headache when the Le Cornufe can be bought and serviced by the dealer less than 10 minutes away.

@joe12333, thanks for the clarification. I think you’re making the right choice.

From what I have been reading in this forum, the dealer network for Ilve is mostly going away in the US (if it hasn't already). It's now been rebranded as Hallman and sold through a different channel; you can often find it in big discount chains. Customer service for both brands sounded somewhat unreliable.

On the other hand, LaCanche stands out for their amazing customer service. Both the US and the Canadian representatives regularly pop up in this forum and give excellent help. If looks and features are important to you, and your budget is open to it then I would definitely consider that brand. It might take a little bit to receive the order though. My brother just bought a stove and had it delivered to Germany. That took almost 3 months, and he is still waiting for the matching range hood as that was delivered incorrectly. I can only imagine that shipping from France to the US is going to take longer.

I’d recommend the Cornufe highly. I looked at Ilve, Hallman and, of course, Lacanche. I went with the Cornufe for a number of reasons, but the primary one was that I’m in the middle of nowhere in Maine and I wanted a range with as few moving parts as possible for ease of repair if needed. Any good plumber or HVAC guy can work on this thing, and the lack of electronics makes needing repair less likely. It works beautifully, and looks like it’s always been a part of my early 1800’s house, as intended. A jewel that functions. The only other stove in this price range I would seriously consider is the Lacanche.

Also, they are very pretty 😛