The house owners of this circa-1790 Cape in Freeport, Maine, envisioned a “not too kitchen-y” kitchen: no higher cupboards, Shaker-inspired however super-functional storage, and completely, positively no recessed lighting.

The way to create such an area, you ask? You enlist Block Brothers, a family-owned small-batch kitchen firm that hand-builds every cupboard like a bit of advantageous furnishings (and which, as of this month, is transport kitchens nationwide).

The purchasers, a pair with three younger youngsters, had beforehand gut-renovated a contemporary house close by. “My husband was just a little bit weary about transferring once more,” the shopper writes. “The prior home was renovated throughout Covid and took about 18 months to design and full, and we solely lived there for about 4 years. However with some convincing—and a promise that that is our without end house—we in the end felt {that a} historic home higher aligns with our design sensibilities and way of life. The home seems like the right household home, and it doesn’t harm as a lot to ding up previous partitions and flooring. Provides to the allure! I feel our kiddos are fortunate to develop up in such a well-loved house.”

And certainly, some dinging up was required. “The unique home was in-built 1790—the basement ground options massive granite slabs initially used as ship ballast,” the purchasers write. They fell for the “historic bones” but additionally a “quirky Nineties addition, the encircling gardens, massive yard, and barn,” and the neighborhoodL “Children nonetheless ring bells to see if neighbors can play, experience bikes far and wide, and play in different folks’s yards.”

However the kitchen was uneven, with awkward skylights and a column operating via the middle of issues (“from the ceiling to the ground, proper via a peninsula that jutted into the middle of the area”). Along with resolving the funky structure, the couple needed the area to be hardworking and accommodating for his or her household of 5, all whereas trying seamless when glimpsed from different areas of the home. Briefly, they write, “We needed it to really feel prefer it was all the time there.”

Right here’s how they did it (and scroll down for a have a look at the area bef0re).

Pictures by Sean Litchfield.