In the kitchen, windows are fitted with very practical roller shades, stenciled in paint.
This cozy kitchen is in a “Hapgood house” in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey. About 500 such Craftsman-inspired homes built by developer Herbert J. Hapgood after 1911 survive. Today’s owners, Suzanne and Rick Solch, purchased theirs about 20 years ago. At the time, “the house didn’t look especially Arts & Crafts,” Suzanne says; remodeling had taken away much of the integrity from the stuccoed 1913 house.
After lots of work—stripping fireplace brick, replacing the stair rail, removing down lights in the living-room ceiling—the Solches furnished the house in true Craftsman style. For the use of textiles and window treatments, they looked to Gustav Stickley’s advice from his magazine The Craftsman (1901–1916). In the kitchen, windows are fitted with very practical roller shades, stenciled in paint. (They’re from the Handwerk Shade Shop: thehandwerkshop.com.)
The kitchen is warm and practical.
The incised and paint-decorated cottage table and chairs date to the 1930s or ’40s. The Storybook-style chandelier is a reproduction from Mica Lamps. The green-and-black tableware is German: the couple have traveled extensively and are avid collectors with eclectic taste.
1. WARM PALETTE
This one is neither a “sanitary white” period kitchen, nor an over-the-top revival version. Copper and natural wood anchor a space saturated with soft teals and greens.
2. CRAFTSMAN MOTIFS
The room gets period credence and personality from motifs chosen by by the owners: a threeleaf stencil on the roller shades, Stickley cabinet pulls, and nature by way of black bear relief tiles.
‘Gustav Stickley Drawer Pull With Oval Ring’
3. ORIGINAL FOOTPRINT
The kitchen remains in its original location in the back of the house, and is separated from the dining room by a door. No additions were made, although what’s now the stove alcove used to be a small ice-delivery porch.
4. MODERN FUNCTION
Despite its average size and old-fashioned appeal, the kitchen has plenty of storage (note the narrow cabinets around the stove), new granite counters, and a Heartland reproduction range that fits in yet works like today’s high-end appliances.
‘Retro Stove’ from Big Chill
Kitchen Inspiration
Need so many pulls, you can’t afford handmade? The ‘Gustav Stickley Drawer Pull With Oval Ring’ is an option—produced in brass with a copper finish, cast (not hammered). Oak Park Home & Hardware, who also carries hand-hammered hardware, sells these for $21.72 each. oakparkhome-hardware.com
Famous for their curvy fridges in luscious retro colors, Big Chill has postwar ranges, too. The ‘Retro Stove’ comes in a space-saving 30″ size and the 36″ shown, in nine color options including White and Jadeite Green. Electric induction or gas. Starting at $4,495. bigchill.com
In the New Jersey kitchen, the decorative tiles—black bears and dragonflies—and field tiles are from Pratt & Larson, known for their extensive glaze colors. Besides field tiles and mosaics, the company makes decorative relief tiles depicting animals, botanicals, sea life, fruits and vegetables, and ironworks-inspired designs. Find a dealer at prattandlarson.com
