Constructing the Kitchen – a tribute to Frank Furness and Daniel Pabst, continued…

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We purchased the house at 878 Main Street at auction, so the kitchen appliances were not included.  The biggest disappointment, however, was that they DID leave us the kitchen cabinets, which appeared to have been hand-made out of plywood some time in the 1950s.  Though the chrome trim on the counters was a nice touch, the Formica was a blinding yellow contrast to the pale blue walls.  After some serious cleaning, the black floor was revealed to be a dated white linoleum with blue and yellow accents, explaining the predominant color scheme in the kitchen.  Oh, and a word to the wise; when you dump the entire container of Greased Lightning onto the kitchen floor and mash it around with the push broom, consider opening all of the windows first.  I often wonder how many brain cells perished that afternoon.
 
The servant’s staircase to the basement was reached through a windowed door that was curiously placed to cut off the end of an outside window.  The doorway leading to the remains of the servant’s staircase to the second floor utilized the skeletal remais of that staircase as a pantry closet.  The cabinets cleaned up after many applications of elbow grease, and the sink finally drained nicely after the 8th large pot of boiling water poured into its gaping maw.
 
Anyway, the “before” pictures of the kitchen…
The Pantry closet contained over a hundred glass jars of home-canned sundries, left there for so long that the contents had coagulated into a thick black ooze.  Upon removing them, the asbestos in the basement remained the house’s only major biohazard.  The black jars were likely to contain enough botulinum toxin to paralyze the city of New York, or at least provide enough of a Botox supply to smooth the foreheads of the entire country for a number of years.  I almost expected government officials in hazmat outfits to raid our dumpster when we threw them out under the cover of darkness.
 
We had decided to hold off on re-doing the kitchen for a while, as it was somewhat functional, though dated, and as we had no design plans in place as of yet.  Our house, however, had more urgent plans for the kitchen remodel than we did, as we were soon to see. 
 
A second-story windowsill above the kitchen, made out of a 6×6 solid slab of heart pine, had completely rotted through to the center.  Our carpenter had removed it without considering why such a dense piece of wood should disintegrate in such a way.  The answer, it turns out, was that the gutter above it tilted in the wrong direction, dumping its entire load of water onto that windowsill, allowing the water to then flow down the brick exterior of the house.  Such a small gutter, too, considering that it ultimately drained more than half of the roof surface of the entire house. 
 
As hindsight could easily predict, the next downpour occurred before the new windowsill had been installed, and a tremendous volume of water poured into the new opening and coursed down the other side of the brick, on the interior of the wall.  We returned home from a night out with friends to find our kitchen ceiling appearing significantly more convex than when we had left it. A few cracks were languidly dripping water, giving us a clue as to the reason for the new shape.  A strategically placed bucket and a hole poked above it confirmed the reason for the pregnant ceiling, but her water broke, and the ceiling gave birth to a tremendous deluge.  The meagre bucket among the sopping debris of plaster and lath reminded us of how woefully inadequate we were when compared to the power of nature combined with the treachery of an old house.
 
As the decision had been made for us, we broke ground on the new kitchen.  With the space gutted, we removed the old staircase-to-nowhere, going  up, and the staircase to the basement, as well as the adjoining butler’s pantry which was already just an empty room.  The blank canvas was beginning to look promising.
Pulling design elements from Philadelphia architect, Frank Furness and cabinet maker Daniel Pabst (see the previous post), Tom designed the cabinets with a few design requirements from me.  The look I was going for was a cityscape with pitched rooflines that hinted at chimneys with slate roofs or roof tiles.  I wanted all of the cabinets to look like furniture — not kitchen cabinets, and Walnut was a must, as it was always the first choice for Pabst and Furness.  They all had to be up off the floor on feet, including the refrigerator(s) and island.  the appliances all had to be hidden, with only the stove and hood giving any real clue that this was a kitchen.  And, I wanted a clock tower.  Tom set to work, and his first draft was almost exactly what we ended up with as a final version.  The “Straight Guy With The Queer Eye” strikes again!

After stealing…er…borrowing, a few more design elements from Mr. Pabst and Mr. Furness, we worked out the final details.
With the help of Robert Hudson, a local craftsman and cabinet maker, we began the process of building the cabinets.  I have to say, that Robert was very patient with us, and I have no doubt that at times his Southern Gentleman exterior was threatening to crack as we worked with him to get everything just perfect.  But perfect is exactly what he was capable of delivering, after many mock-ups and drawings.
 
The cabinets were now starting to take shape in Robert’s workshop, and we visited regularly to keep track of how things were going…

In the meantime, Tom and I were hard at work laying down the travertine floor he had designed.  He managed to cut all of the travertine from 16″ squares, to allow for the larger-dimension size of the pattern.  We found the travertine on sale at a local marble supply store, so counting the mortar mix that formed the base and given that our sweat equity was free, we have a beautiful $3 per square-foot floor.  Not bad, considering…

With the travertine floor, wainscotting and stove backsplash installed, the tin ceiling and wall tiles were the next to go in.  We purchased these from a company that is still in business 130-plus years after they opened.  They still use the same templates that they used in the 1870s for their tin panels, and the quality of their product, the depth of the pattern, and the intracacy of their designs were what captured us.  The panels are tin, and come uncoated.  Tom came up with the three-metal painted design of copper, silver and gold, and produced what we call the “tobacco spit” finish on top to give the illusion of age. 

At last, the cabinets were stained and ready to be installed! 

With the cabinets installation coming along, the only visible kitchen appliance was finally put in place.  Now, for those of you who would like a commercial Wolf stove installed in their kitchen, the first thing to do is to put down an AGA on your wishlist.  Once your spouse sees the price of an AGA, they will be ecstatic when you finally “settle” for the Wolf.  Actually we happened upon this one at an auction when a distributor went out of business.  We bought it brand-new, still in the crate, for less than half the wholesale price.  Switched it over from Propane to natural gas, and voila!  Who needs an AGA anyway.

Robert even did his magic on the window trim and door mouldings, bringing everything together “en suite” to match the style and materials of the new kitchen cabinets.

The double refrigerators are on either side of the glass cabinet, each has two freezer drawers below.  The Clock Tower I asked for turned into a double clock tower.  Confused, I asked Tom why I would need two clocks in my kitchen.  He explained that the one on the right would have a glass mosaic face declaring “Eastern Standard USA” and the one of the left would have an identical face declaring “Danville Virginia USA”…  That one would run a little slow.  Perfect!  Now all we need is a good mosaic artist to complete that thought, and hope that the locals have a sense of humor.

The slate pattern for the cabinet “roofs”
The butcher-block countertops are made from blood wood, canary wood, maple, walnut, cherry and wenge.  They took three years to make.  Really! We went down to Wall Lumber in Mayodan North Carolina and hand-picked all of the wood for the countertops.  Tom had them, along with his design and measurements shipped to a local cabinet maker, as Robert had now retired (we had finally managed to wear him out completely).  We negotiated a good price with this new guy, and got an approximate estimate as to when they would be done, and waited, and waited, and waited.  It turns out that the cabinet maker had his eye on a particular woman, and we were not alone in waiting, until he had finally netted his quarry and got back to work. I’m beginning to think that the Danville clock should actually run three years slower than the other one, though some have suggested that 50 years might be more appropriate.

The other countertop surrounding the white carrera sink is just as beautiful as the island, and now lies beneath a dozen layers of tinfoil.  In the classic style of the hourly worker who likes to show progress for their pay by cutting corners, our carpenter at the time failed to seal the underside of this countertop as promised.  It warped terribly within a year, with the dishwashers residing beneath it on either side of the sink.  As it now reposes upside down, like a belly-up fish, and as neither gravity nor dehumidifiers have moved it at all, we are looking for other ways of straightening this masterpiece so that we can display its beauty for all to see.  One day… In the meantime, I can add one more worker to the list of “workmen I would love to strangle” and move on.  Another “one step forward, two steps back” achievement.

the hidden dishwasher drawers on either side of the sink are an essential part of our kitchen and help us to entertain more easily.  Being able to easily seat 12 at my dining room table, and 16 if I push the limits, it is essential that the dishwashers are able to handle the pressure.  So far, I’m pleased with the results. 

Details of the refrigerator doors and freezer drawers.  I love people’s reaction when they first can’t find the refrigerators, and second when they realize that the “cabinets” are actually hidden appliances.  Having them up off the floor on feet only amplifies that true cabinet feel and adds to the illusion.

I think that Mr. Furness and Mr. Pabst would be pleased with what we have created to honor them.  I only hope that the world will one day better appreciate the treasures they have left behind and understand how completely unique and interesting their view of architecture and design was, and how it enriches our environment to have their creations continue to exist.  In the end, we have a kitchen like no other, and I am reminded of the architect and the cabinet maker I most admire every time I walk into that room.  In addition, I am again left breathless by the amazing designer that I have under my own roof who was able to pull this off and fulfill my most extreme wishes and desires.  I count myself among the luckiest of women to have such a husband.  My most heartfelt thanks to Tom for the bravery and creativity it took to begin this project, and the dedication and hard work it took to see it through to completion.  Not too shabby for a lawyer!

One kitchen down, one more to go.  I’m thinking of a 1950s style for the basement kitchen, even though Tom keeps reminding me of the irony in just having torn out a 1950s kitchen…Whatever!  Wait until you see the refrigerator I bought for that project!

Carla Minosh

While I am new to Blogging, I have always enjoyed sharing the stories of my crazy life, so this is simply another medium to share, and hopefully entertain and enrich others. Perhaps you can feel thankful that your life is so steady and predictable after reading these, perhaps you can appreciate the insanity and wish you had more of it in your life. Either way, the crazy tales are all true (to the best of my spotty recollection) and simply tell the tale of a life full of exploration, enthusiasm, curiosity and hard work. I hope you all enjoy being a part of the journey.

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10 thoughts on “Constructing the Kitchen – a tribute to Frank Furness and Daniel Pabst, continued…”

  5. Carla Minosh

    Take a look at the facebook page for the house. The link is at the bottom of this post. I have drawings for the cabinets in the photo album for the kitchen renovation. Mind, they are rough sketches. We had our cabinetmaker produce many mock-ups before he got what we were trying to do; the dimensions, massing, details, etc. A lot was done above and beyond the drawings.

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  7. Anonymous

    I'm from Philly – in a very modest rowhouse that's nothing close to architect designed – and I can't tell you how excited I am that someone in Ohio honored Furness! Now I have to read your entire blog.

    Reply

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While I am new to Blogging, I have always enjoyed sharing the stories of my crazy life, so this is simply another medium to share, and hopefully entertain and enrich others. Perhaps you can feel thankful that your life is so steady and predictable after reading these, perhaps you can appreciate the insanity and wish you had more of it in your life. Either way, the crazy tales are all true and simply tell the tale of a life full of exploration, enthusiasm, curiosity and hard work. 

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