Sounds like it'll be 110 years YOUNG :) Your plans sound wonderful, keeping all the best and making it work. (I hope you're keeping the curly-mop at the table, too, who matches the style perfectly)

Do you have to take any precautions when removing asbestos tile?

What a fabulous kitchen (the old one). We just about finished our reno of our 100+ kitchen. I kept all of our old cabinets, which I love, unfortunately nothing else in the kitchen was old.

I love your plans, too bad about the fridge, it is a beauty. I hope you rethink the idea of canned lights in an old kitchen; the two just don't mix well and I think they may ruin the look of your tin ceiling. We put in school house lights and a five-light vintage looking fixture and our kitchen is very brightly lit!
Diane

It's sad to see a vintage kitchen go, but it sounds like you are planning to preserve the style as best you can while making it more functional.

What are your plans for the old fridge? I'm not sure if there are collectors for such things, but it would be unfortunate for it to go to a dump if there are folks who would want it. I've seen fridges from 1950, and yours looks older.

Charming vintage kitchen, but I understand. The stove is for sure a wonderful character. I'm still on the hunt for a clock/thermometer accessory for my old Magic Chef. The holes are there from when one sat atop it but who knows what happened to it.

Can't wait for your reveal.

The fridge is a 1931 Westinghouse "Night watchman". It pre-dates the GE monitor tops. Sulfur Dioxide refrigerant can be lethal. No refrigerant guy will touch it since there is no procedure for collection of the refrigerant, and no legal way of disposing of it. It would cost several thousand dollars to have it retrofitted with a new system (assuming I do something crazy like drag it outside and shoot it to get rid of the refrigerant). Thermostat is mercury. Dangerous appliance overall, but it was the first of its kind. I had considered sending it to a company out west that claims to refurb them, but they quote close to $8k. Size just isn't conducive to spending the money. I may keep it in the basement as a novelty, but not practical or safe for regular kitchen use.

So glad you are preserving what you can in your historic kitchen.
However, I second using schoolhouse lights rather than cans. Not only do they suit a period kitchen, they give off plenty of good light, which is why they lasted so long. Also, because of their shape, I am able to use corn type LED's in mine.
Was the existing chandelier always located in the kitchen?

Hello All,
Thank you for the input about the lighting. I will try to figure out how to work school house lights into the design without the room being crowded by light fixtures.

The original kitchen light fixture probably resembled these:

These are original light fixtures around the house. Interestingly they were both gas and electric by design. Electricity was not added later. These were wired in to the original knob and tube wiring which was installed when the house was built (recently replaced with romex-lots of plaster work). Apparently people were not sure if they wanted to pay for gas or electric.

There is a single gas connection in the kitchen ceiling, so there was probably no other lighting in the room. I have no idea when this other fixture was added, but it looks 20's.

Good luck and post pics along the way. We remodeled our 100 yr old home's kitchen this year, making it ore practical, open, and conducive to today's living styles. We live in an historic district and often see the struggles with restoration vs. remodeling. Unless you want to live in a museum, remodel and use some of the original items to keep touch with the home's past, like the lights.

Those are lovely fixtures. There's an interesting article here about the dual fixtures:
http://lighting.about.com/od/Fixtures/tp/Best-Gas-electric-Pendant-Lights.htm
Also, schoolhouse fixtures are available in many different mounting options, many can be mounted quite close to the ceiling, for less visual clutteredness, such as these:

Here is a link that might be useful: Rejuvenation flush mounts

I sent you you an email about the release of the gas etc. c