I have always wanted to live in and experience an Italian castle or villa, with totally modern fittings and furniture inside. Not the villa with intricate, highly ornamental frescoes, but a really old worn down one sporting raw stone walls . . . more grotto like than frescoed. Of course, I would not want to worry about keeping it warm and dry, that would all be taken care of before I took ownership.
And here is one of the kitchens I could imagine having there. A perfect sphere of stainless, translucent, and black when closed, and a workable very small kitchen when open. And I’m not even a bachelor, although it seems to holler “James Bond” or his 21st century equivalent.
Not this, which is charming and a wonderful kitchen renovation in Tuscany,
But this, inside the castle above.
Or in one of these, my best grotto dreams.
It does take a decent sized outlier for storage, of a couple of chairs, tabletop ware, and an oven.
Here is how it works: A top view of the work surfaces reveals sinks, a cooktop, and hotplate. So we are not cooking for a group, we are entertaining a special person. Any serious large scale cookery would be done before, offsite, or in a galley below.
A small outrigger for storage rolls right up to where you want it for a drawer full of utensils.
The concept of high contrast is really at play. Do you prefer this slick and minimal kitchen in an old world setting, a villa in Italy? Or for you, does it scream for the white walls and black floors of a highrise in New York?
Let us know where you envision yours!
(Cost? It compares to a complete, more standard, new kitchen or renovation.)
Next week, speaking of transparency….something I’d never dreamed of in any kitchens.