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It is difficult to imagine this sun-drenched kitchen as it once was—dingy, cluttered and with only a single window over the sink. Needless to say, the sparkling waterfront Annapolis location was wasted. When Celeste and Mark Streger (Rockville residents and avid sailors) first saw the home during an open house in 2015, even they had doubts about the neglected, early eighties house. But it was such an ideal location. “I wanted to wake up and see the water,” Celeste says. “But boy, oh, boy, did that house need work.” Joining forces with Kenwood Kitchens in Annapolis was the key to the transformation.
As Kenwood Kitchens designer Lisa Brown, ASID, remembers, “Owners Mark and Celeste are very sophisticated/contemporary clients. Celeste was very interested in the overall design, while Mark, the chief cook, was most interested in the function.” Brown wanted to create a first floor in their new home that took care of a variety of space issues as well as the poor layout—keeping in mind, “It’s all about the view.”
Opening up a wall into the dining room allowed the new space to be used for the remodeled kitchen. The previous living room became the dining area. “After seeing a contemporary kitchen in our Annapolis showroom, they knew that would be the style for their kitchen,” Brown says. She then showed them a Wood•Mode door/cabinet style the couple loved—a matte rift cut veneer made in America (Pennsylvania, in fact). “We now had a style and a plan.”
The cabinetry on the first floor all ties together, while the floating base design used throughout gives the impression of freestanding furniture pieces. The floating dry bar, with signal blue back-painted glass doors, is an example of this effective technique.
That flash of blue (a favorite of Celeste’s and perfect for the waterside location) makes repeated appearances throughout the kitchen, sitting area and new full bath (an ideal post-pool stop for the family and visitors). Brown suggested a visit to the venerable Annapolis Lighting store where Celeste found those touch-of-blue pendant lights. The glass backsplash is an especially dramatic and pleasing focal point amidst the sleek cabinetry and stainless steel exuberance of the top-of-the-line appliances. Even the fireplace insert was changed to have blue stones placed in the bottom.
The countertops are Cambria, a quartz material in the Ella finish (the look of marble, yet more durable). The impressive island again uses Cambria but this is in the “jewel collection” finish Parys. The bar-height island top appears as if it is floating, held up by three steel supports hidden behind the inner panel of the island. The island even has a nifty nook built in with its own stool—a perfect perch for Celeste to keep Mark company while he creates in the kitchen. (Risotto is his signature dish.)
And Mark got all the techie tools he’s been yearning for—including a 60-inch 15,000 BTU Wolf range with a French cooktop, two ovens and 9 cubic feet of dual convection capacity. This blends perfectly with the giant Subzero refrigerator and freezer that supply a total width of 5 feet of refrigeration.
Conveniently, many of these great gadgets and design features can be seen at the 4,000-square-foot Kenwood showroom in Annapolis (or at their facilities in Abingdon, Bel Air, Columbia or Lutherville). “It’s a family business started in 1974,” Scott Waldhauser, who runs the company with his brothers David and Steven, explains. “We are a turnkey company. Most of our work is residential where the whole remodeling is done through us.” He proudly tells us that “we measure, install and take care of everything with people who have worked for us for 10, 15 or as many as 20 years.”
The Stregers, parents of two grown sons, are avid sailors. They just needed a home base. “We love our home on the water, cooking dinners, sampling the wine cellar with friends. And we’re really glad we walked into Kenwood,” Celeste says earnestly.
RESOURCES
Kitchen Design: Lisa Brown, ASID (allied member), Kenwood Kitchens, kenwoodkitchens.com, Annapolis, Maryland | Pendant Lighting: Annapolis
Lighting, annapolislighting.com, Annapolis, Maryland | Cabinetry: Wood•Mode,
wood-mode.com | APLIANCES: The Appliance Soure, theappliancesource.com
Annapolis Home Magazine
Vol. 8, No. 2 2017