Julia Child’s house, where the kitchen went to Washington, encouraged Mark to mention that out-of-sync kitchens bother him.

My colleagues Hilda and Kathe and I used to make up definitions of real estate descriptions that we spot on listing sheets. Years ago, we defined “luxury kitchen” as “thin cherry cabinets, poorly laid granite, and stainless steel appliances.” Many of these kitchens were designed by people who never cook, which is obvious to anyone who tries to cook in them. Many are out-of-sync with the house.

The other thing we noticed was two to five year old houses with high-end appliances, which were hardly used. Some of these kitchens did not even have a set of pots suitable for the range.

My clients frequently tell me that they would prefer a functional kitchen to a slapped-together stereotype “luxury” kitchen. I regularly hear comments like, “I don’t need a granite kitchen, and I don’t want to pay for one.” Yet, anything that is being flipped has the requisite granite (or corian) kitchen. The floors may be tilting, but the kitchen is shiny.

Go figure.

Does this bother anyone besides me and Mark?

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