Surrey Homes | SH20 | June 2016 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

HOUSE OF THE MONTH by John Graham-Hart
1.
Hearth & Home
John Graham-Hart finds homes with beautiful kitchens...
My grandmother’s kitchen was not a welcoming space. It was attractive
enough but it was a kingdom where she, as butcher, baker and even
occasional candlestick-maker, reigned supreme. Intruders were
invited, in no uncertain terms to remove themselves from beneath her feet and
seek amusement elsewhere.
To her generation, the kitchen was a purely utilitarian space. It was certainly
not where fathers read papers, children communed with iPads or family pets
ever set foot. It was here she hovered, muttering incantations, over half a dozen
bubbling cauldrons. Any creature, man or beast, that trespassed was in serious
danger of being transformed instantly into something wingless and crawling.
How times have changed. In the 1960s and 70s the kitchen began to
develop into a more family-friendly environment. By the 1980s, the idea of a
completely open kitchen, where at least children ate and were welcome, had
been born. By the 1990s, the trophy kitchen had arrived.
And the kitchen continues to play an ever more significant role in family life,
busily annexing neighbouring ground floor space to create not only an elegant
and high-tech cooking environment but a venue for dinner parties and a
comfortable crash space for children and adults alike. Where once it was merely
somewhere to prepare the meals of the day, it’s rapidly becoming the true heart
of the home.
Cast your eye over a few properties whose kitchens would have had my
grandmother spellbound…
1. St Elmo
Where? St Elmo is set on a private
driveway serving three houses off Burgh
Heath Road just a short distance from
Epsom town centre (Google Maps KT17
4LS).
What? This imaginative high
specification contemporary home is awash
with light and space, Downstairs, the
drawing room features bi-folding doors to
the garden and an oak and glass feature
staircase and leads through to stunning
open plan kitchen/ dining room featuring
a vaulted ceiling with glass skylights and
a wall of bifolding doors which open out
onto a large black slate terrace. On the
ground floor is also a family/TV room
and a potential separate annex with
bedroom, study, shower room and utility/
kitchen.
On the lower ground floor there is a
dedicated leisure area including fully
integrated cinema room gym/play room
with outdoor sunken sun terrace, a
utility room and useful future-proofed
communications room. Upstairs is a
master bedroom with ensuite bathroom
and balcony and two further bedrooms.
How much? St Elmo is with
Knight Frank in Esher and is priced at
£2,695,000. Call 01372 464496 or visit
www.knightfrank.com
www.wealdentimes.co.uk
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