| | Published April 25th, 2012
| Lafayette Juniors' Kitchen Tour Returns with Six Unique and Stylish Kitchens
| | Rosylyn Aragones Stenzel |  | | Big windows to bring the outside inside Photo Andy Scheck
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This year's 13th Annual Lafayette Juniors' Kitchen Tour scheduled Saturday, May 19 features six newly-constructed or recently-remodeled kitchens in a variety of house styles including a green/sustainable mid-century modern, Cape Cod classic, Tahoe style and a Hampton's style rancher. Each kitchen is unique and individually stamped with the homeowner's personal taste, yet all offer the very latest in concept and design.
Here's a sneak peak at two of the homes on the tour:
Bringing the outside inside is what immediately comes to mind when walking into John and Gwenn Lennox's kitchen. Located at the north end of the house to make the most of the views and the quietness of the backyard, the kitchen is bright and open with high ceilings, a wall of windows, and lots of natural light. The large windows highlight the vistas of the trees with the outside view seamlessly blending with the inside. Designed with the view in mind, corner windows complete the panorama.
To the Lennox family, being green was paramount to the process of rebuilding their home. Originally a 1950s ranch house, the new home is a mid-century modern designed by architect Greg Faulkner. Throughout the whole house and in the kitchen, they chose materials with the least impact on the environment and without product ending up in a landfill.
They used granite remnants for the countertops, employed cross ventilation rather than mechanical fans or air conditioning, chose concrete radiant heat floors made with fly ash, and selected plywood cabinets with a maple veneer finish (with no chemical off gassing) rather than using all hardwood.
In keeping with the non-symmetry of nature, none of the cabinet doors are the same or symmetrical. Faulkner echoed this theme with different elements throughout the home. During the design process, they were very thoughtful in deciding storage options, Gwenn Lennox says, as fewer overhead cabinets meant putting plates and other kitchen items in drawers that normally might be stored above.
Being green is natural for Lennox who spent 17 years working in energy conservation at PG&E. "When going green, it's not just any one thing," she says, "it's more of a thoughtful, overall approach on the materials and in the design on the home."
Besides being green, it was important for the Lennox's to have a home that was low maintenance and functioned well for their family.
For Timberly Scott, designing a home around her daughter's needs was the main motivation. Lafayette homeowners Scott and husband Dr. Jerry Mattka partnered with contractor Ray Post and Charlotte Kyle of Lincoln Creek Builders, Inc. (LCB) to remodel and renovate a home that would be comfortable and accessible for 26-year-old Ashley who uses a wheelchair.
The kitchen was really the start of the remodel with Scott wishing for room to have Ashley beside her while cooking. LCB designed and built a mobile island that easily moves in and out of the kitchen, as well as into the adjoining dining room. The island, with a Blue Celestial quartz countertop, sits atop cabinetry where cookware is stored. If an appliance on the island needs to be plugged in, there's an electrical outlet cleverly hidden in the porcelain floor.
The entire home is wheelchair accessible with thoughtful features including porcelain tile floors throughout that are durable and easy to maintain, and pocket doors for easy access.
Blue is prominent throughout the kitchen, from the Blue Bahia granite countertops with matching diamond pattern backsplash insets to the blue armoire adjacent to the kitchen. "My colors are very earthy," the homeowner explains, "so when I get around blues, it balances me. I immediately feel good when I walk into a room that has blue."
Their home is known to friends as the Tahoe house in Lafayette. With the vaulted ceilings and wood beams to the cobblestone fireplaces and warm, soothing decor, it's easy to pretend one is in a vacation home in the mountains. Outside, the ranch-style home echoes the Tahoe theme with stained cedar siding and cobblestone.
The home has green, energy-saving features, too. From LED canned lighting throughout, solar tiles on the roof generating electricity for the whole home, to a radiant barrier installed within the roofing system, which Post explains, "reflects the heat from the sun, and also holds the heat in the winter time, so it keeps the house more at a constant temperature."
Scott loves her walk-in pantry and the view to the front yard from the kitchen garden window, which she says will all change once her daughter moves in this fall. "But when Ashley gets here, having her beside me while I'm in the kitchen will make it the best thing ever for me."
Four other distinctive kitchens are also on the tour with the option of having lunch in a beautiful terraced garden at one of the homes. Tour tickets are $40 and $12 to reserve a gourmet boxed lunch from Lafayette's Huckleberry Cafe. Tickets may be purchased at Douglah Designs and Premier Kitchens, both in Lafayette or online at www.lafayettejuniors.org.
Proceeds from the tour will benefit major beneficiary Shelter, Inc. and minor beneficiaries: CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), SEED (Special Education Enrichment Development Foundation), Lafayette Library and Learning Foundation and New Day for Children.
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13th Annual Lafayette Juniors Kitchen Tour
Saturday, May 19, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tickets: $40 and may be purchased at Douglah Designs and Premier Kitchens, both in Lafayette. Visit www.lafayettejuniors.org for more information.
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 | | Sink in island Photo A. Scheck
|  | | Diamond pattern backsplash inset
Photo K. Drinkwater
|  | | Mobile island in Timberly Scott's kitchen Photo Karen Drinkwater
|  | | Walk-in pantry Photo K. Drinkwater
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA