#Small kitchen makeovers, from icky to beautiful: Architectural Heritage Center Kitchen Revival Tour

Don t even look at the old photos of the kitchen that came with the 1938 English-Cape Cod house Lisa Fox bought in southeast Portland.

Every drawer was broken, counter tiles chipped, cupboards rotted from water damage. More disappointment came after scratching through a few dirty layers. Under the cheap floor tile and the annoying adhesive were short pieces of fir, face-nailed. Not pretty.

See remodeled kitchens in a 1904 foursquare to 1960 ranch

The Architectural Heritage Center s Kitchen Revival Tour is designed to be as educational as it is inspirational and entertaining. Houses on the self-guided tour represent a variety of styles and have kitchens that efficiently and stylishly serve the homeowners.

The tour is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 12. Tickets are $25 and include a guidebook. Contractors and homeowners will be on site to answer questions. For more information, call 503-231-7264 or go to www.visitahc.org

But today, what could be saved has been stripped, refinished or restored. New additions model the originals and there are colorful upgrades and gleaming new appliances.

Everything from the black-and-white tile counters and oak floor to the baking table in the nook and glass cabinet knobs is ready to be on display as part of the Architectural Heritage Center s popular Kitchen Revival Tour on Saturday, April 12.

Fox, a graphic designer with no fear of color, wanted the kitchen remodel to do more than shake off the rough and worn past. She and her husband, Vic Pecka, hoped to preserve as much of the original kitchen as possible, replicate replacements when needed and add a work area and a bank of cupboards to previously empty areas.

Emerald green and butter-colored cupboards? What a way to start the day.

Before construction began, someone suggested removing a wall that separates the cooking area from the nook in the "U"-shaped kitchen. But that didn't seem right for the house, recalls Fox, who worked with Arciform designers Kristyn Bester and Richard De Wolf.

De Wolf had what Fox calls the genius idea" of removing an internal chimney instead of disturbing walls to make room for an upper and lower cabinet between the stove and refrigerator.

CJ Hurley, a design consultant for owners of historic houses, is on the Architectural Heritage Center s kitchen tour selection committee. When he was considering which of hundreds of kitchens would be narrowed down to the nine on the tour, he looked at the re-use of original materials and appropriate replications of unsalvageable elements.

The most used room in a home can t remain a time capsule, he says, but it can have a good balance between living then and living now.

The new cabinets here fit the 1938 kitchen with an awesome green color that makes them fun, says Hurley, a fine artist, architectural history lecturer and co-owner of CJ Hurley Century Arts.

The hard work to restore parts of the battered kitchen also scored points with the selection committee.

Saving the arched valance above the sink is greatly appreciated, Hurley says, but real kudos goes to the restoration of the kitchen's original wall mounted exhaust fan. Fans of this sort almost always find their way into the landfill.

-- Janet Eastman

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