Of all the appliances in the kitchen, the range has to be my favorite. It has a long story to tell. From early brick contraptions in Europe, Scandinavia and Russia to Indonesia, mankind has been trying to harness fire and fine tune cooking for a very long time and they’re doing a fantastic job now days if I don’t say so myself. The invention of the modern kitchen stove is often credited to Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford in the 1790s. But the first cast iron stove was produced in Lynn, Ma in the 1640s at the Saugus Iron Works, now a historic site. In the 1740s, Benjamin Franklin invented the Pennsylvania Fireplace which was small enough to be installed in a large fireplace. French ranges have long been regarded as premier cooking experiences. La Canache ranges have a rich history all the way back to an ironworks in 1796 and La Cornue debuted the first convection oven in 1908. Clearly now days, the sky is the limit. From custom colors to professional units, it’s kind of hard to go wrong.
There are a lot of different range options out there. So how on earth did I decide which one to go with? Well I guess like anyone striking out on a kitchen renovation, budget sets the parameters. I knew I wanted a professional-grade range but being in design, I knew long before any other detail in the kitchen plans which range I wanted. I love the look of the vintage stoves so this post will stick primarily with the “vintage-inspired.” But know that there are SO many other options out there, especially if you love the sleek stainless steel look of a Wolf Range. The french ranges you see in high end kitchen design are beautiful and I loved the idea of a unique color vs the ordinary stainless steel. So from our first apartment as a married couple with it’s coiled springs to our most recent, albeit 20+ year old Wolf stove, I’ve cooked on a variety of ranges. I knew this was my chance to actually pick instead of living with someone else’s choice.
The problem I have with the french ranges, particularly the La Cornue and La Canche, is that you can’t actually see inside without opening the oven door. Which drives me nuts. I am a very visual baker and the La Cornue and La Canche ranges have oven doors that you can’t see through. I just couldn’t get past that or see myself getting use to it no matter how pretty they are. Am I the only one on the planet who eagerly peeks in to see when the brownies are done? I never set an alarm, I watch it. I’ve always watched my food bake and to have to keep opening an oven door to do that seemed like a terrible choice. Plus they are insanely expensive. The quote I got from a local retailer for the La Cornue Chateau 120″ in the custom Tapestry color was $45,900 plus $3,800 for shipping from France and a 14-16 week lead time. Just FYI friends this is for the mid-size unit…these are the price of fancy cars. Absolutely no judgement if that is in your budget and you love it. But it wasn’t in mine. I did find the smaller La Cornue Cornufe units on Williams Sonoma’s website for around $10,000 plus $1300 shipping which is very comparable with Wolf ranges and the ILVE Majestic and Bertazzoni Heritage Range. Expect over $10,000 for a professional range.
So really, knowing my criteria that nixed the french ranges and left me with only a few options–ILVE Majestic Ranges or the Bertazzoni Heritage Range, both Italian luxury brands. Of the two, I liked the appearance of the ILVE Majestic better and it met my 2nd criteria of coming in fun and exciting colors. The Bertazzoni Heritage range only comes in 3 colors. Years ago I pinned a picture of the ILVE Majestic range and it was love at first sight. ILVE has several range types but I love the Majestic series for that vintage charm and you may notice it goes well with the other details that inspired our kitchen design in this post from a few months ago. At over 200 custom colors, multiple sizes, those vintage-inspired details, and quality craftsmanship, I was sold. Now I did do a lot of research online and liked what I saw but I knew I needed to see it in person so I used their retailer locator to track down a store. Seeing it in person was really affirming plus I got to take home a book of their custom colors which helped me find the perfect custom color for our kitchen. Stay tuned for the reveal of our range soon! I swear I’m not dragging my feet, just waiting for the painting to be finished and the cardboard protection removed. Haha! Lingering construction.
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Ilve has always been my favorite too! Our Viking range is 20+ year old and never well maintained. It’s in need of a very high service bill or we need anew range. Unfortunately, we had a service guy tell Kevin that American was the way to go (Viking or wolf) because parts can take months. That was enough to make him nix my Ilve dreams! Maybe I’ll try again. Right now we are in a waiting period.
Oh you should Aimee! Convince that hubs! I can’t speak from experience because our range is only a few weeks young but it did arrive with one of the oven sparks not working (they think due to transit) but they’ve already fixed it. Maybe it depends on the part? In the looks category it’s a beauty. 🙂
I can’t wait to see your beautiful big reveal! You did an incredible job! It’s so beautiful! I’m looking at the Big Chill 36” Range Classic collection. That company began in Boulder, CO and is manufactured in Pennsylvania now. I like the look of it. Trying to find some reviews. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find a floor model! Ha ha!
What are the exterior colors on the house?
Our exterior is BM Charcoal Slate and I believe the trim is BM Decorator’s White, both picked by the previous home owner. My She Shed is BM Swiss Coffee with Trim BM Northern Cliffs.