When you love to cook and you love to entertain, the kitchen in your custom home ought to be the focal point for both. In this home, which is a Hammersmith Original Design, we sunk the kitchen work area by several inches and integrated a reclaimed fir serving counter and dining table into it. (We anchored the table so it requires minimal support, making it easy for guests to move around.) Guests can be seated comfortably and feel like they’re part of the action while the lowered cooking area keeps them from being actually in the middle of it. A convenient, open pantry at one end of the kitchen provides easy access for everything the chef needs. Clerestory windows in the main living space allow daylight to flood in without too much direct sun. For evening lighting, we bent a standard light rail into a perfect circle and hung it from the high ceiling using aircraft cable.
Other features of this home include Brazilian cherry floors (which are as beautiful as American cherry, but handle wear-and-tear much better), timber-framed cathedral ceilings, and a two-sided, indoor/outdoor fireplace with a reclaimed timber mantel and slate surround on each side.
