Features: The Ultimate Philadelphia Dream House

THE KITCHEN

 Originally, this wasn’t a kitchen at all. Back when the room was added on to this Wyndmoor house in the early 1900s, it was conceived as a dining room, with loads of architectural drama—long, tall and narrow, with an arched doorway, thick moldings, a large three-paneled window. “We wanted the kitchen to be a backdrop, to not impede the architecture,” says designer Rebecca Paul. She kept it simple with elegant touches—the natural cherry countertops, the honed granite on the island, the cut molding on the bottoms of the cabinetry so it would look like pieces of furniture, the quilted stainless panel as the backsplash to the stove (inspired by the sides of catering trucks). “Too much glitz would’ve been an assault to the bones of the building,” Paul says. Ever faithful to those bones, she found a tabletop that was as old as the house, a 1930s china cabinet to house a collection of silver napkin rings and baby cups that had been in the family for generations, and mismatched Windsor chairs—all contrasted with the bold modern touches, like those sharp stainless chairs.

Do-It-Yourself: Don’t be afraid of color. “A kitchen is not like a living room,” says Paul. “It’s not soft. It’s hard—hard surfaces, hard granite, appliances, stainless steel. Color can soften it up, pull in the walls and warm up the space.” —Vicki Glembocki

Rebecca Paul Residential Design, 8403 Flourtown Avenue, Wyndmoor; 215-836-1697.