A clean, well-lighted space to cook A clean, well-lighted space to cook (September 23, 2005)

Five kitchens featured on Avenidas fall tour

By Carol Blitzer

Dan Seligson quickly fires off the things he and his wife Margaret wanted in a new kitchen: more light, up-to-date appliances, a friendlier look, more openness. They debated whether to go with Dan's preference, a more contemporary look, or Margaret's tendency to stay with the 1940 feel of their Old Palo Alto home. They both wanted a kitchen they could live in, one that would accommodate their proposed family.

Eight years and three children later they're still happy with the results -- enough so to join four other Palo Alto homeowners on the 10th annual Fall Kitchen Tour, which will be held Saturday, Sept. 24. The tour is a benefit for Avenidas, which serves seniors and caregivers in the Midpeninsula.

The kitchen-design process was an exercise in compromise. At first Dan wanted a large central island, with a cooktop embedded in the counter. Margaret voted for the drop-in stove along the side, but loved the large island. Today, many meals are enjoyed at the island, which functions as a table and a place to store large trays.

Working with kitchen designer Carol "Simone" Biber, the couple learned a ton about granite -- "We went to the granite store seven times," Margaret said -- as well as lighting and flooring.

Margaret, looking for a light and clean look, thought white would do the trick. Biber convinced her to embrace the warmth of light maple cabinets, contrasted with black granite countertops, black drawer pulls and a limestone backsplash trimmed in black granite. The limestone reminded the couple of trips to the Utah and Judean deserts.

"The cabinets are so beautiful," Margaret said, with Dan pointing to the matching veneer inlays, mostly taken from the same lot.

Light was a real driving force in the kitchen design. First, Biber widened the archway into the nook, adjacent to the kitchen. In their nook, the couple chose to replace a small window that overlooked a large tree with double glass doors and six Arts-and-Crafts style mullioned casement windows. They liked the look so much, they replaced all the windows of the house with these double-paned, noise-deadening versions.

Raising the ceiling and adding a skylight brought in even more light to the nook, which now houses a large table used for everything from family dinners to art projects.

One unusual touch is placing windows behind glass-fronted cabinets, so light streams through their glasses, into the room. Auxiliary lighting comes from recessed halogen cams in the ceiling, as well as interior lights on display shelves.

The harshness of the black granite is softened by a curved edge, which is echoed in two parallel cabinets, one holding a second stainless-steel sink.

Instead of a small swinging door between dining room and kitchen, today there's a glass pocket door, which is usually open, that brings in more light to the dining room.

When updating the appliances, the couple chose a Dacor drop-in stove with four burners, as well as a combo microwave/convection oven. They opted for the quiet Miele dishwasher and a maple-fronted Sub-Zero refrigerator with the freezer on the bottom.

Of more concern to the couple was the floor. First they considered recycled 19th-century wood flooring, but were concerned with how it would stand up if deluged by water. They chose Marmoleum, with inlaid maple leaves that appear to be strewn from the tree outside.

"I was worried about seams, but it's holding up very well," Margaret said. Just outside the nook, the couple replaced the old brick steps with semi-circular concrete steps, with mosaic inlays by Jude Pittman, an art professor at College of San Mateo. They replicated the stairs outside their bedroom. Margaret then reused the old bricks and laid them into a patio.

Looking back, Dan admits that if he were to do it over again, he'd have done more of "the hard things," such as pushing out the nook wall about three feet and rebuilding the wall the pocket door sits in so it would run more smoothly. But when the kitchen started leaping well beyond the $60,000 budget, they felt they had to draw the line somewhere.

"We're happy with this," Margaret said. "We use the kitchen. We like the details."

Four distinctly different kitchens, some with remodeled powder rooms, are included on this year's tour, including:

** a Mediterranean-style home that reflects the couple's European travels. Built in 2000, the home incorporates hand-made English Chalone cabinetry in the kitchen, painted in sea green and deep gold. Look for the gold and cherry wood island covered by Portero marble, with an ornate copper lighting fixture above. The walls are glazed with pale yellow;

** a home inspired by an English country house, using English oak and iron. The kitchen is centered around an old-fashioned looking cooker, lined with glazed tiles. Instead of upper cabinets, the couple chose antique hanging corner cupboards and a French armoire. An old French farm table functions as an island;

** a College Terrace cottage whose kitchen was expanded using green building principles, built-in recycling and composting stations, locally made sea-green tiles made from recycled materials and flooring from reclaimed wood. Salvaged (from the Sutro Baths) Art Deco tiles were re-used in the powder room, and a built-in cabinet was moved from the old kitchen to the living room;

** a 1939 Stedman Brothers home with rearranged interior walls to expand the "pass-through" kitchen. Cabinetry resembles furniture, and appliances are hidden behind cabinets. A new wood floor ties into the rest of the house. Fewer doors, larger storage areas, larger windows and a raised ceiling help give the room added volume. New areas include a mud room and a pantry/laundry area.

As usual, addresses for the five homes are supplied with the tickets to the self-guided kitchen tour.

INFO: What: 10th Annual Fabulous Fall Kitchen Tour. When: Saturday, Sept. 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Where: Five kitchens in Palo Alto.
Tickets: $25 in advance, $30 on tour day. Tickets may be purchased at Avenidas, 450 Bryant St., Palo Alto. Program guide includes resource information on architects, designers and suppliers for each kitchen on the tour.
Info: Call (650) 494-7350 or visit www.avenidas.org.

Assistant editor Carol Blitzer writes for the Palo Alto Weekly, the Voice's sister paper. She can be reached at cblitzer@paweekly.com.

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