By Jess Clarke / Photos By Matt Rose
Julie Jensen’s galley kitchen in Weaverville had a cozy breakfast nook, but it was too cozy—not enough space for her family to be in the kitchen when she cooked and not enough room for the baking she enjoys. “The kitchen is our meeting place,” says Jensen, who lives in the main house at Landfair Farms, and she wanted an abundant space for gathering.
French doors that separated the breakfast nook from the family room made the rooms feel disconnected, and Jensen wanted the kitchen to open up to the family room with renovations in a simple, sturdy craftsman style to suit the farm environment. In the process, several interior walls were removed and roughly 40 square feet were added on to the rear of the house.
To support the expanded space, general contractor Matthew Jackson of Paragon Woodworks Inc. in Weaverville retrofit a structural steel beam into the second-floor system. They removed a section of wall and installed the beam and two structural columns, which are worked into the kitchen’s design.
The transformation to a cook’s kitchen doubled the size of the room and included creating an elaborate pantry, and installing new craftsman-style cherry cabinetry. The palette is rustic, with a backsplash in glazed red tile and walls painted in the earth tones, repeated in adjoining rooms.
The revamped kitchen also includes new lighting and appliances: a range top and industrial hood, double oven and microwave, says architect Amy Conner-Murphy of ACM Design in Arden, who oversaw the design.
To keep things comfy, a new radiant-heat system was installed—heated water flows beneath the floors, which are made of hickory with inlaid cherry to coordinate with the kitchen cabinets.
The Jenkins now have a kitchen that gives them plenty of elbowroom, but retains the warmth and hospitality of a country hearth.
