TWICE IN YOUR LIFE you will want a small house: when you marry (this is likely to be a budgeted house); and again when your children marry (the budget probably won't matter so much as your tastes). Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Brock's house in Fairfield, Connecticut, is the second type, planned for easy maintenance, pleasant living and based on fine GE equipment. Victor Civkin was the architect. GE equipment is at Wanamaker's, New York, The Dayton Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

WIDE WINDOWS flood living area of this three-purpose (kitchen, laundry, dining) room with sun, filtered through light Citron yellow Fiberglas curtains. Work center is separated from it by bar and serving counters, over which it is practical to pass drinks and food. Door to outdoors makes it easy to eat out in summer. Stairs lead down to Mr. Brock's dark room and wood-working shop.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | April 1950

Like many young couples when they buy a house, Charlott and David Wyatt found that it pays to do one thing well and do it at the outset. Mrs. Wyatt loves to cook and enter- tain and her ambition was to have a light, cheerful kitchen where she, her husband and guests could be comfortable while the rest of the house went through its growing pains. So it made sense to concentrate the bulk of the immediate budget in that one room. Costs were kept under control by Mrs. Wyatt's unfeminine strategy of making up her mind first as to what she wanted and sticking to it. And she was completely realistic about both her space and her requirements. "I fooled around, pen in hand," she says, "until the kitchen I wanted came through." Then she worked closely with architect Robert McCracken and RCA Whirlpool to achieve a personal, practical kitchen that has everything on her list: a big, smooth, unobstructed counter; a pivotal work area where she can swing from oven to counter, refrigerator to sink; an island with chairs where people can sit and talk to her without being in the way; and, of course, good equipment. Her requirements in that realm: the carefree qualities of both a dishwasher and a disposer, a combination wall refrigerator-freezer (she was willing to wait until the model she liked was available), two wall ovens, one electric and one gas (to give her the advantages of both types of cooking heat and be independent of possible power failure), an electric cooking top, a washer- dryer and as much compact, easy- to-reach storage as the kitchen could comfortably accommodate.

Pink is Mrs. Wyatt's favorite color and the kitchen, she says, "was the only room where I felt I could use it without upsetting my husband." That the effect is crisp, not sugarplum, is due to the fact that Carnation Pink countertops, floor, shutters and chair cushions are relieved by lots of white in cabinets, curtains, and brick wallpaper, and by the burnished metal hardware. According to Mrs. Wyatt, Chicago gets no award for being dirt-free, so she chose easy-to-clean Robbins vinyl floor tile, laminated plastic countertops. Storage is designed for her 5′ 5′′ height. Cabinets over island hold glasses, seasonings. Pots, pans and dishes are by the cooking top. Especially valuable: a storage wall of stacked cabinets in alternating pink and white with adjustable shelves for good china and silver serving pieces. 

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source: House and Garden Magazine | June 1959

The architects' conviction that the best storage is unseen worked out as successfully in the kitchen (usually the most over-stocked room of all) as in the rest of the house. Walls freed from the usual hanging cabinets and a sparkling blue, gray and white color scheme give the kitchen a sense of space and tranquility, making it an inviting spot for children's dining and occasional family meals. The two sleek work counters (one topped with white Micarta, the other with stainless steel) hold dishes, place mats and cooking necessities in addition to the under-counter dishwasher and warming oven. Food is stored in two walk-in rooms (one refrigerated, the other not) near the service entrance where a package receiver takes deliveries. An equally capacious walk-in china closet near the dining room holds everything needed for table settings, down to the last finger bowl.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | February 1959

The old-time pantry is back-as well stocked as grandmother's was with the wherewithal for festive menus, as redolent as hers with the smells of coffee and spices and fresh baked cookies. But today's version is no longer a separate room. Instead, a line-up of colorful cabinets stores a gourmet's hoard of modern packaged foods and also provides a preparation center where these goodies can be turned into a party spread in a few minutes.

The cabinets are wood, in a rich range of finishes walnut, fruitwood or autumn tone, or solid shades of reds, greens, blues, yellows, beiges or grays. Paul McCobb designed them for Mutschler Brothers Company and inside you will find all the built-in fitments that mark well equipped kitchen storage. Mounted on free-standing uprights of satin-finished aluminum, these versatile cabinets can be set up any place you please against the wall or in the center of the room and in any combination of open shelves, closed cabinets, work areas of different heights-with or without a pass-through. You can substitute an undercounter freezer for a base cabinet if you like, since they share with kitchen equipment the same standard unit of measurement. And if you want your wall to serve as a room divider you can get matching panels to finish the ends.

H&G's own pantry wall, was designed in a combination of six colors to make a wonderful splash in an all-white kitchen. White plastic laminate was our choice for the countertop, but you might prefer wood or stainless steel. We planned the whole arrangement as a companion to the freezer wall we pioneered in September-portent of a new era in kitchen design. Another portent: the decorative, un-kitcheny look of cabinets raised off the floor on high legs (easier to clean under, too) and the handsome effect of open shelves where you can display good-looking accessories and open spaces where you can suspend onions and cheeses from hooks screwed into the top.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | December 1958

A charcoal grill, skylight or window wall will give you the feeling of being out of doors while you work in your kitchen. Here and on the next two pages is a remarkable kitchen that has all three, also combines many old-fashioned ideas with fresh, forward-looking embellishments. The barbecue, besides adding pleasure and variety to cooking, offers the warmth and comfort of a fire. A skylight floods work areas with light, gives you a glimpse of the sky when you have a moment to look up. The window wall frames a view, creates the feeling of being in a garden. There is a sympathetic play of cool colors against warm that provides a quiet, neutral background for paintings and the view. Astonishingly, the kitchen plan adapts conventional ideas of 30 years ago: a serving pantry with access to the front door and dining room; a breakfast room secluded from the kitchen and furnished as a separate entity; laundry and ironing space away from the kitchen proper. The center worktable, a base cabinet with a cutting board, has knee room for sitters and electric outlets for appliances, can be shifted to where you want it. Pantries subdivide storage, are supplemented by cabinets with trays and nooks for appliances, cutlery, baking equipment.

Barbecue grill doubles as a fireplace. It is placed at the end of a counter separating dining room, left, from breakfast area, right, has a revolving baffle that opens it to either side. The tiled counter acts as a serving table. Across it is a translucent panel with a sliding section that functions as a pass-through, throws kitchen and dining areas together for informal gatherings. The panel diffuses light from 9' wide sliding glass walls in the breakfast area, right, where there is a vista of a canyon and mountains. Silver and platters are stored under the counter on shallow, sliding trays that can be reached from either side. Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Harold P. Ullman, Santa Monica, Calif.; architect: Thornton M. Abell, A.I.A.; interior designer: Jane F. Ullman.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | August 1958

A kitchen without color can be as effective as a rainbow scheme. Designer Everett Brown, A.I.D., saw his kitchen as a neutral background to be spiced by the colors of food and the presence of people (his family includes two children, many pets). All-white cabinets, equipment, ceramic tile floor, countertops, plastic topped table and plastic-upholstered chairs are smooth-surfaced and easy to clean. Decorative elements are the largescale geometric wallpaper in white, black and gray and floor-to-ceiling open shelving. 4" deep, which keeps glasses and cups accessible between cooking and dining areas. The dining area overlooks a walled garden of simple flowers geraniums, marguerites.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | August 1957