Center hall colonial- kitchen in a front room

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be weird to have the kitchen in the front of a 4 on 4 colonial. Could hurt resale value. But if you are staying there and it is what you want, by all means do it.

OP, I know two homes that did your suggested layout in similar sounding classic colonials, one in Sec 4 Chevy Chase and one in Bethesda. Both are great looking homes and I’d be shocked if there is any ding on their eventual resale. Generally, I agree with this poster, though, to do what makes the most sense for you if you plan to live there awhile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The key thing is nobody wants to walk in the front door and see a messy kitchen.

The only house where I’ve seen a kitchen in front is a beach house where it’s NBD.

The only way I’d consider this is if you can block it from view—and glass French doors don’t block the view.

I’m the poster who said I know of CC and Bethesda houses with this layout, and the way they habdled the issue you raise is that there is a pocket door that can be easily closed which is the kitchen door closest to the front door/foyer (when the pocket door is closed, it feels like a solid center hallway you walk down to get to the family room (which runs along the full back of the house), and from there is blends to dining area which opens to the kitchen. So to enter the actual kitchen space, it can be done from the open fam/dining/kitchen area or through that pocket door directly into the kitchen.

[Anonymous]

I would keep the kitchen in the back if possible, and see if you can ditch the overhead cabinets to preserve the windows. One argument in favor of that is that if you ever eat in the backyard, it's a much more seamless transition between the back kitchen and the backyard (compared to you getting food from the kitchen and walking the entire length of the house through the dining room to the backyard door.)

I have lived with the front kitchen in a newish house and I grew to really really hate it. No matter how you try to screen it, it really jumps out at you. I am from the culture where kitchens are expected to be shielded from the public areas of the house, and while I tried to get on the open concept horse, I just can't do it. I think there is a sense of calm and beauty that you get from walking into the nice orderly space from the front door (your living and dining rooms, in this case) that you just won't get from the kitchen in front. Just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be weird to have the kitchen in the front of a 4 on 4 colonial. Could hurt resale value. But if you are staying there and it is what you want, by all means do it.

OP, I know two homes that did your suggested layout in similar sounding classic colonials, one in Sec 4 Chevy Chase and one in Bethesda. Both are great looking homes and I’d be shocked if there is any ding on their eventual resale. Generally, I agree with this poster, though, to do what makes the most sense for you if you plan to live there awhile.

There are obviously people who don't care about the kitchen being in the front of the house. However, there are also people (like me and others on this thread) that wouldn't buy a house with that configuration. Any time you reduce your pool of buyers, you are running a very high risk of lowering your resale value. Maybe OP doesn't care about resale value, but it's a legitimate concern.

[Anonymous]

OP you can see this link, found it online. Personally tho we did see a townhome listed where the kitchen was moved to the front of the home, and it was a dealbreaker for us. A very odd thing to get adjusted to.

https://hearthomemag.co.uk/kitchen-at-front-of-house/

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone! Just to update, we decided to go with a different floor plan. Kept the kitchen in the back. Fridge has to be in a weird corner location, but, decided to panel the appliances and therefore it will look just like normal cabinetry there and not a random stainless steel appliance in an alcove. Old weird houses have old weird issues that's for sure! But I think we are both happier with this layout. Thanks again for all the advice.