I live in ct and that kitchen is a dime a dozen, so someone who is tired of the look and believe it or not many who have seen the look since 2002, when it became hot in ct, are honestly bored with it and would change it out in a New York minute for something orginal and interesting.

I stalked Green Demolitions throughout my long span of planning for my kitchen renovation, and there were frequently kitchens there that made me wonder the same question that the OP posed. If you've got the money, I suppose there's no good reason why you shouldn't have a brand new kitchen that oerfectly suits your tastes and needs. I can't really relate, but I think it's great to see the cast-offs recycled, especially since some of them seem to be in great shape.

Eh, I wouldn't want that kitchen. But then again, I wouldn't buy that house with that kitchen unless the house was such an incredible steal that I could afford to rip it out and replace it with what I want. Plus the layout is not appealing for me.

Maybe they are doing an addition, relocating the kitchen, have a need for universal design for disabilities, etc.
Maybe it just looks good but is cheaply made and falling apart.

Maybe the person who posted about being sick of white kitchens-lol!

wow I have no idea - that looks way nicer than my very-similarly-designed-brand-new-kitchen! but it is a very traditional look, so if you like modern/contemporary, I can see how this would not be ideal. If I bought a home with a modern or contemporary kitchen, even if brand-new, I can see myself wanting to replace it. (although...to your point, I probably wouldn't buy a house with a brand new kitchen I didn't like. It would "hurt" me too much to rip out something new)

Fascinating! I'd never heard of the site/industry. Awesome that they're getting re-used.

It's just like when you see nice 'brand new' clothes at Goodwill or the like. Everything is relative.

The kitchen is from Greenwich, Ct where the median house price is 1+ million so the person who purchased this house is not worried about replacement costs most likely. The kitchen is also very likely more than a few years old, it became trendy more than 10years ago in this area and equates with many in Fairfield County as builder grade today.

Here is a link that might be useful: Greenwich, ct

This post was edited by roarah on Wed, Jun 25, 14 at 17:43

It's Greenwich CT. Lots of money. Get whatever you want. I lived near there and the yard sales in the area were fabulous. Great stuff due to redecoration and redoing. I bought my two 96 inch green velvet, stuffed with down, couches there for $500 twenty five years ago and I still love them.
Kitchen-reno is probably right. The owners probably want a modern kitchen. Someone will get a great kitchen for a great price. Good

Maybe someone who didn't like the layout, wanted different appliances that would not fit in the current layout, needs a Kosher kitchen. Maybe someone who is adding onto the house, maybe someone who bought the house for location only and is tearing it down.

One of my friends' grandfathers owned an architecturally significant (famous in architectural circles) house that had been published internationally, and won multiple awards. It was in CT and sold for something a bit under $3M.

The person who bought it was going to use it for its garage and its dock. It was a convenient place for them to garage their cars and launch their boat to travel to their large house on a nearby island. They had absolutely no interest in the house and its significance at all. It was a $3M parking spot.

What others have said about where the house is. It's all relative.

That said, I have a friend who recently gutted her home and I liked the kitchen she tore out way way better than her new one. But they're very different styles (old kitchen was pretty traditional, new kitchen is very sleek and modern), so it's just individual taste.

Texas_Gem said it perfectly. Not my style, wouldn't have bought the place unless discounted to take into account my want to change out the kitchen.

In my area, Westchester NY, this is a standard builder kitchen. As stated above for CT, this has been the trend kitchen for years. A friend just looked at a new house, $3m+, and the kitchen was much like the above. She too would have ripped it out. The money just isn't an issue for so many people in this area. Very frequently, even million dollar houses are routinely torn down and new bigger, better is built.

That's not the case for us. We bought the cheapest house in the best school district we could afford and we have slowly made repairs ourselves over the 7 years of living here.

With that said, with the kitchen, at least folks are trying to recycle, repurpose, or salvage etc. As another poster stated, the estate sales and CL listings around here are awesome!

There are a couple interesting items on that site! How about that Kips Bay show kitchen...wowza!

I still see plenty of people doing these kitchens in my area, which is also a very expensive real estate market. Maybe they are outdated in CT, I know it's the Peacock look which had its heyday there to begin with a decade or more ago. Maybe there's a backlash. I'm not sure I agree that this is a builder grade "look" necessarily... anything that begins to be mass produced and consumed can become degraded, but you can still do a very high end kitchen in this "look". I actually love this look still.

I was not trying to be derogatory. That kitchen is "the kitchen" that builders are putting into the 1.2 mil + houses they build here. It's the default spec kitchen. It's not "builder-grade" in the sense of cheap. But it is the default look (wood floors, white shaker cabs, lots of glass and windows, marble tops, or white quartzite, walnut islands, featured pendants) with the default appliances (wolf-subzero). Some details have changed in the past decade, more marble than soapstone and wolf over Viking. But this is the no-brainer that the builder does. It looks nice. It looks like it cost a certain amount. The look fits with the general vintage/style of many of the surrounding older homes that have not been torn down and replaced with "bigger, and better."

Honestly, it would depend on what's on either side of the L. If there was a banquette/window seat with table and chairs to the right and a big fireplace and a few comfy chairs to the bottom, I'd probably keep it. But, I would also probably add a bit more color. As mentioned on other posts...it's all relative.

I'm still reeling from the $3M parking lot. What a shame to discard the value and beauty of the house. Maybe they will grow tired of their parking lot and allow someone else the chance to appreciate it :)

I live near Greenwich as well and I agree with jennifer132 that yes, the kitchen does look like all the builder grade kitchens they are putting in the higher end spec houses here. It is the default, safe look. Many people who spend that kind of money for a house do not ultimately want the same kitchen that's in all the spec houses, though.

Many people here on GW say that they never see kitchens like this in their area. In our area, not only has this been the trend for quite a while, this kitchen is almost all that one sees if one is looking at a new build. In many remodel-for-sale situations, one sees similar, albeit a cheaper rendition.

What is the new thing that folks are putting in custom (non-spec) homes in Greenwich?

That's a great site (KitchenTrader), thanks!

When I see what appears to be a remodel for no reason, especially in more modest homes, I always think a "new" wife is involved.

"When I see what appears to be a remodel for no reason, especially in more modest homes, I always think a "new" wife is involved."

That made me laugh, but it makes sense in a way.

I think this kitchen is beautiful (I lust for, but have never had, wood floors, white shaker cabs, lots of glass and windows, marble, etc., etc.).

I have the same question as Oaktown - What is the new thing that folks are putting in?

It's not at all what I would choose, but it's ok. If I bought that house, I would probably leave the kitchen much alone for a while. At least it has the wooden island counter which warms things slightly. I'd get rid of those pendants and stools, change out the faucet, and try to get a splash of color in there. But I really hate throwing away useful things, so I would have a hard time just demo'ing it. Maybe if I could get reasonable resale... which may be what they're doing. I hadn't heard of selling your entire kitchen like this.

I am seeing alot less Edwardian and a lot more European design choices. If cabs are white or any color for that matter they are now high gloss lacquer rather than painted with purposeful brush marks. More modern lines in cabinets and countertop edges. I have seen a lot more waterfall edges lately too. Grey stains which show wood grain is popular still as well. Cup pulls are definitely losing favor and being replaced with small simple pulls. The Mathew quinn kitchen from the kips bay house is closer to the new trend than the Christopher Peacock scullery is.

Hmmm.... "Sold!" Didn't last long. Maybe its a flipper looking for a ready made kitchen -- it appears only to be gently used. Can I say I love the three cubbies above the desk -- think about sorting mail -- "junk", "bills", "good stuff".

The Matthew Quinn kitchen is still available. The layout is definitely more space specific and the price,even after being cut, is a big barrier.

There are three CornuFe 1908's available as floor models on the site as well --- these are the models with the traditional vaulted oven.

Hello! Thank you for the nice words on the KitchenTrader.com website (I work in marketing for them)! There are so many kitchens that Kitchen Trader/Green Demolitions gets, quite amazing.

Actually, if any of you on this message string would like to learn more about the story and process with Kitchen Trader's Founder, Steve Feldman, he would love to do a special little interview session. Just let me know and I can make that happen!

Changing out the stools is the only thing I would do.