Coastal Revival

George Davis, Inc. creates an award-winning kitchen with modern appeal

The homeowners of this Cape Cod residence sought an updated kitchen that had a distinctive feel from the rest of the house. They tapped George Davis, Inc. to design and build out the new space.

A challenge in the original kitchen was that although the door from the driveway entered through the kitchen, there wasn’t a mudroom nearby. “People came into the house through the back door and then had to walk through the kitchen to hang up their coats in the hall,” says kitchen designer Deb Esborn who came up with the solution of adding a new door into the kitchen near the hall, where the coat closet is.

A door to the backyard was removed to add more usable space to the kitchen, which accommodated dual wall ovens and a larger window over the sink. “The homeowners live very close to the ocean so they wanted the classic white Cape Cod kitchen,” says Esborn. Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy in a distressed application was painted on the island as a nod to the locale.

Topped with leathered Quartzite, the island includes a downdraft cooktop which integrates the ventilation system directly into the cooking surface, eliminating the need for an overhead vent. A wet bar was also added to the room and appliances, such as the Subzero refrigerator and drawers, have paneled fronts to recede with cabinetry.

The existing wide plank pine floors were repaired and shellacked and an oversize apron-front ceramic sink was added to the kitchen, which recently took home honors from the BRICC awards for its design. “The room is much more defined now, it feels modern and light but also ties in with the traditional nature of the home,” says Esborn. 

Photography by Dan Cutrona