Kitchen Tour: A Fitting Design for an 18th Century Home
Soft black units, a brass splashback, oak flooring and an ancient table complement this room’s lovely period features
When James Horsfall of Bath Kitchen Company first visited this Georgian home, its kitchen felt much smaller. “The room was cut in half by a peninsula, with the kitchen table on the other side of it,” he explains. James’s first thought was that, for a house of this scale – it has seven bedrooms spread across five floors – the kitchen felt small in comparison.
James’s design for the family of four who live here returned the room to a whole, with the table at the centre – which is significant. “Whenever the house gets sold, the table stays with it,” he says. Like the house, the table was made in the 1700s and has always been here. Isn’t such an ancient heirloom a little… impractical in the busiest room of a family home? Not at all. “It’s a very well used table,” James says. “The kids do their colouring on it. It’s not a particularly special design, it’s just very old.” And, like the house, it has stood the test of time.
James’s design for the family of four who live here returned the room to a whole, with the table at the centre – which is significant. “Whenever the house gets sold, the table stays with it,” he says. Like the house, the table was made in the 1700s and has always been here. Isn’t such an ancient heirloom a little… impractical in the busiest room of a family home? Not at all. “It’s a very well used table,” James says. “The kids do their colouring on it. It’s not a particularly special design, it’s just very old.” And, like the house, it has stood the test of time.
James created a painted mantel over the range cooker and hid an extractor in the chimney breast. Two shallow, half-glazed wall cabinets, painted to match, sit neatly either side in the alcoves.
Black-and-white tiles behind the range tie in with the monochrome theme.
Dual fuel range cooker, Wolf.
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Black-and-white tiles behind the range tie in with the monochrome theme.
Dual fuel range cooker, Wolf.
Find the right pro for your project in the extensive Houzz Professionals Directory.
The kitchen has a lot of storage: nine drawers, four wall units and two sections of open shelving.
There’s a four-part integrated bin, a dishwasher, a built-in microwave and a French-style fridge-freezer (with double fridge doors and a freezer drawer below) in the tall units on the right. Just out of shot next to it is a large larder with an integrated worktop, which houses the toaster. There is a boiling-water tap, so no need for a kettle.
For the splashback, James aged brass sheets, which were fitted to panels on the walls. They deliberately stop short of the chimney breast, so as not to clash with the tiles and stainless-steel of the range.
The aged brass hardware and pendant lampshades tie in. “The brass is a nice contrast to the black-and-white. Along with the wood on the floor, the mix of materials means everything still feels very warm,” James says.
Stainless-steel boiling-water tap, Quooker.
There’s a four-part integrated bin, a dishwasher, a built-in microwave and a French-style fridge-freezer (with double fridge doors and a freezer drawer below) in the tall units on the right. Just out of shot next to it is a large larder with an integrated worktop, which houses the toaster. There is a boiling-water tap, so no need for a kettle.
For the splashback, James aged brass sheets, which were fitted to panels on the walls. They deliberately stop short of the chimney breast, so as not to clash with the tiles and stainless-steel of the range.
The aged brass hardware and pendant lampshades tie in. “The brass is a nice contrast to the black-and-white. Along with the wood on the floor, the mix of materials means everything still feels very warm,” James says.
Stainless-steel boiling-water tap, Quooker.
The worktop was a labour of love. James and the owners settled on this marble-effect Dekton surface, made from a blend of porcelain, quartz stone and glass. The only problem was that, at 20mm, it was too thin for the look James had in mind, and the edges were plain, not marbled.
To build it up to a chunkier 45mm, James had a thicker piece of the marbled material mitred onto the front. “It was a lot more work and a lot more stone,” James says. “Real craftsmanship.”
Aura worktop, Dekton.
To build it up to a chunkier 45mm, James had a thicker piece of the marbled material mitred onto the front. “It was a lot more work and a lot more stone,” James says. “Real craftsmanship.”
Aura worktop, Dekton.
This corner is perhaps more complicated than it looks at first glance. The drawers go into the alcove, but the units then turn the corner at a different depth. To bridge this gap, James added a skinny display area. “It just made sense and gives space for some homeliness,” he says.
As the kitchen is fully bespoke, he was also able to make the cabinets on the right shallower. “It was about doing the best for the room and not making it feel clunky,” he says.
The discreet disc in the corner of the worktop is a pop-up socket. “We didn’t want to put sockets into the brass,” James explains.
As the kitchen is fully bespoke, he was also able to make the cabinets on the right shallower. “It was about doing the best for the room and not making it feel clunky,” he says.
The discreet disc in the corner of the worktop is a pop-up socket. “We didn’t want to put sockets into the brass,” James explains.
This peek inside the cutlery drawer shows the beautiful workmanship at play. The walnut interiors add a sense of luxury.
It’s all built to last. “Oh yes,” says James, “the kitchen will be there as long as anybody wants it.”
It’s all built to last. “Oh yes,” says James, “the kitchen will be there as long as anybody wants it.”
The room as seen through a doorway in the hall.
The owners absolutely love their kitchen and, James says, report that it’s now their favourite room in the house.
“It just feels like it belongs in the property,” he adds. “It has a really nice cosy feeling in the evening, because of the lighting and the way it bounces off the aged brass. And in the daytime, there’s lots of lovely daylight.”
“It just feels like it belongs in the property,” he adds. “It has a really nice cosy feeling in the evening, because of the lighting and the way it bounces off the aged brass. And in the daytime, there’s lots of lovely daylight.”
The kitchen as seen from the garden shows why it’s such a bright room. The two windows behind the railings are at the back of the kitchen and open onto a slim veranda.
The larder is on the left of the windows, the range cooker is on the right and the sink is straight ahead.
Tell us…
What do you like about this very classic and sympathetically designed kitchen? Let us know in the Comments.
The larder is on the left of the windows, the range cooker is on the right and the sink is straight ahead.
Tell us…
What do you like about this very classic and sympathetically designed kitchen? Let us know in the Comments.
Who lives here? A family with two primary school age children and a cat
Location Bath
Property A Georgian townhouse with 7 bedrooms
Room dimensions 4.7m x 5.3m
Designer James Horsfall of Bath Kitchen Company
Project year 2019
It’s fair to say the room has incredible bones: original coving, a large sash window and French windows at the back of the kitchen, overlooking a veranda. All this, of course, brought the added responsibility to design something that complemented rather than clashed with the house.
“They wanted something with impact that was still a warm space and in keeping with the house,” James says.
A brief developed organically over several conversations with the owners, as James found out their likes and kitchen habits. Eventually, this dark-painted classic design emerged.
The cabinets are solid walnut with solid maple doors painted a soft black. Aged brass features and an oak parquet floor warm up the otherwise monochrome room.
Cabinets painted in Lamp Black, Little Greene. Aged brass cabinet handles, Armac Martin.