While kitchens of the past have been utilitarian spaces separated from the rest of the home, modern kitchens are hubs of activity—from cooking and entertaining to lounging and doing homework, the workspace has truly evolved into the heart of the home. The kitchens that captured our readers' adoration this year range from dark and moody to bright and minimalist, but they all have one thing in common: outstanding design. Keep scrolling to see what topped the list in 2017.
10. Apartment G in Downtown Singapore
In downtown Singapore, marble, light wood, soft hues, and subtle touches of gold come together to create a stylish, light-filled, and textured apartment. Remodeled by the Singapore-based architecture and interior design duo Takenouchi Webb, Apartment G is a 3,875-square-foot, third-floor apartment near Singapore’s main shopping area Orchard Road, with large sections of glazed windows that look out to lush tropical trees.
This remodeled and extended ranch house in Del Mar is a modern farmhouse-meets-beach shack. The 2,800-square-foot ranch house from the 1950s was renovated by San Francisco-based architect Nick Noyes, with interiors designed by Raili Clasen, founder of Newport Beach studio railiCAdesign. Sited on an oversized lot, the Southern California house has an intimately scaled exterior structure that follows a clean farmhouse aesthetic.
Pandolfini Architects melds steel, concrete, and oak in an elegant, double-height rear addition to a 100-year-old residence. The goal of Dominic Pandolfini's renovation was clear. The architect, founder of Pandolfini Architects, and owner of this century-old home in the Port Melbourne neighborhood told est living: "We wanted a house that was simple, timeless, and hardwearing. Despite the constraints of a long narrow site, we wanted to create some generous spaces that had a sense of drama." Pandolfini did just that by leaving the front facade as is, then collaborating with contractor Duo Built to insert a two-story, rear addition that deftly combines steel, concrete, and oak.
Joseph Eichler developed more than 11,000 homes in California from 1949 to 1966, and though tons are still standing today, many of them have lost their authenticity after going through drastic transformations—but this particular renovation is a different story. Josh and Moeka Lowman of San Francisco branding firm Goldfront reached out to Michael Hennessey Architecture to renovate the interior of their two-story, single-family residence in Diamond Heights, which was built by Eichler in 1965. Michael Hennessey explains, "We struck a balance between the positive, inherent qualities of an Eichler structure with modern improvements that enhance rather than compete with the existing building."
A photographer’s summer retreat in the seaside town of Loctudy, France, is an elegant, architectural metaphor for the importance of light, perspective, and framing in his craft.
When a photographer specializing in architectural work approached Studio Razavi Architecture for a summer home and studio, he envisioned a wood-clad construction on a small plot of land in Brittany, France. What he got was wildly different from his proposal—yet perfectly suited to his needs.
A 19th-century apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden, is reborn. When creative director Martin Ringqvist and his wife, My, a teacher, moved back to Sweden after a year in Los Angeles, they wanted an authentic, warm space to live in with their two children. After much deliberation and house hunting, they found what they needed in a four-bedroom flat in Gothenburg’s downtown neighborhood of Vasastan, where many of the buildings date from the 18th and 19th centuries.
With the addition of a striking, two-story "living hub," architect Rebecca Caldwell of Maytree Studios adds the finishing touch to her brother's Sunshine Coast home in Queensland, Australia. The double-height, 1800-square-foot addition, as designed by Caldwell of Maytree Studios and built by her brother, hosts generous kitchen and living areas with ample connection to the outdoors, as well as an upper mezzanine floor that can be flexed for work or play.
Using the same roof form and materials as the houses surrounding it, this Australian residence reinterprets the pitched-roof silhouette and traditional elevation of its Victorian neighbors—but with a new, modern twist. The new-build family home in the northwest Melbourne suburb of Ascott Vale was designed with two living areas, a kitchen, dining area, study, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, an undercover entertainment area, and three outdoor spaces. Designed by Australian architecture studio FIGR, it measures 2,013 square feet and was built to comfortably accommodate a growing family of five.
In San Francisco’s Alamo Square, Jensen Architects turns to the past to boldly reinterpret a storied historic home. The home’s kitchen features dual Miele ovens, Thermador refrigerator and freezer, and Thermador induction cooktop. A feature wall clad in natural Carrara marble sits behind sliding cabinet uppers. Paola Lenti Heron counter stools in ‘verde scuro,’ coordinate with custom cabinet fronts, accented with Spinneybeck leather pulls.
Nature informs every aspect of a Northern California residence. If ever there was a design for a home that was informed almost exclusively by its setting, it’s the one architect Greg Faulkner devised for a wooded site in Northern California. The construction is a rigorously pared-down display of architectural elements that facilitate engagement with the natural environment. "This was a watershed project for the firm," Faulkner says. "We were intensely focused on producing a quiet presence. The existing use patterns of the site and the path of the sun and the wind drove the design."
To see more of our Top 10 lists, click here.
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