Birmingham Magazine April 2018 Issue

BIRMINGHAM HOMES I Kitchen Goals
KITCHEN
GOALS
A necessary kitchen renovation led to much
more in this Mountain Brook home.
BY LAURA MCALISTER
PHOTOS BY JEAN ALLSOPP
TO SAY COURTNEY PATE ENJOYS
COOKING WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT.
She has a collection of cookbooks that
numbers well over 100, though her husband
Russell says it’s probably more like 300. While
he unwinds at the end of the day with The Wall
Street Journal and a glass of wine, Courtney
reaches for one of her prized cookbooks.
“That’s her thing,” Russell says. “She loves to cook
and play in the kitchen.”
When the couple purchased their Mountain
Brook home in 2011, the kitchen was far from their
favorite spot. It was closed off and unbearably hot
during the daytime when the afternoon sun shined
THIS PAGE: Top to bottom: The home’s kitchen includes a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf to house all of
Courtney’s cookbooks. As part of the renovation, the Pates ended up expanding their living room and opening
it to the kitchen. OPPOSITE PAGE: An oversized island is the focal point of the kitchen, and pecky cypress
cabinets with white marbe countertops give the room a clean, modern aesthetic.
its brightest right into the space. Russell likes to
joke that food wasn’t the only thing cooking in that
kitchen.
After dealing with the inconvenience for a few
years, the couple started to reconsider their home.
They began casually looking at homes on the
market and quickly came to the conclusion that
though their home wasn’t exactly what they wanted
(at the moment), they had a gem that could be
improved upon.
Located on 2.8 acres, the home was private yet
centrally located in a family-friendly neighborhood.
The Pates quickly realized that they weren’t going
to find a better location for them and their 9-yearold
daughter. The lot offered plenty of land to
create outdoors spaces for the three to enjoy
along with family and friends. The kitchen,
they discovered, was the main part of the
house that wasn’t working for them.
Courtney and daughter Stella are avid
HGTV network fans, so they knew exactly
what they wanted in a renovation project.
Courtney also knew just who she wanted to
do the job.
The Pates hired Christopher Architecture
& Interiors, and began work on the project
in 2016.
“My wife loves their work,” Russell says.
“And, of course, I do, too.”
Joanna Goodman, Christopher vice
president and designer, says the project
originally started as a kitchen renovation and
pool addition, but evolved into much more.
The Pates ended up expanding the living
room; adding a bedroom and bathroom to
the third level; and adding a porch, outdoor
kitchen, pool, and new Alaskan cypress roof to
the home.
Though it took more than a year to
complete—and the family lived in the house
during the entire process—Russell says it was
worth the wait to customize the space for their
family’s needs. “Now that we’ve been in the
house, I can say that,” he laughs.
As part of the renovation, each member of
the family got a little something they’d always
wanted. For Courtney it was the kitchen, of
course. Joanna says initially, she had a hard time
letting go of the existing design.
“It was a beautiful kitchen,” she recalls.
“I was thinking, ‘Why would you want to
renovate this? This is beautiful,’ but I had to
step outside and get past that.”
After spending some time thinking over
the kitchen in the hot afternoon sun, Joanna
says she changed her tune. Her first goal was
to create a space that offered spectacular views
without being a hot box. Courtney wanted the
kitchen to be a place people wanted to gather.
To do so, they opened up the space and
added a large pantry, complete with ovens
and freezer drawers. Joanna says this blocked
some of the harsh sunlight, while also leaving
more room for entertaining in the kitchen
where an oversized island became the definite
centerpiece. The pecky cypress cabinets, topped
with white marble, give the room a clean,
modern aesthetic.
Since Courtney loves her cookbooks, a
floor to ceiling bookshelf, complete with a
rolling ladder, was designed to house all 300
of them. There’s also a built-in desk for Stella
to work on her homework, while her mother
cooks. Joanna says now the space truly is
the hub of the home—just as the family
78 | Birmingham | APRIL 18 APRIL 18 | Birmingham | 79