HIGHLAND PARK, IL — When a spec home is filled with just the right touches and details that make it special, a builder can usually rest assured that the home will just about sell itself, as well as any other home it’s representing. And to get a spec home just right, a builder typically needs a spectacular kitchen that “wows” prospective buyers.

Enter James R. Dase, a CMKBD with Abruzzo Kitchens in Schaumburg, IL. DiamondSchreiber Homes, a local builder, brought Dase in to design the kitchen for a spec home that it was constructing.

“I worked with them on a previous spec home project, and I am currently working with several of their custom home clients,” explains Dase. “[I worked] specifically with the builder since this was a 7,000-sq.-ft. spec home [that] was listed at $3 million, so the potential buyer considerations were rather broad.”

Indeed, it was Dase’s job to create a smashing kitchen that would appeal to a broad range of prospective buyers – and do it all within a 350-sq.-ft. space (or a 475-sq.-ft. space, if one includes the dining area) – in a style that meshed with the home’s overall English Tudor design theme. It also had to pull in elements of a typical seaside kitchen from the 1920s. This was a tall order, but Dase was up to the challenge.

In fact, his kitchen design became a big selling point for the builder. “The home sold very quickly [not only] due to the high-quality building practices of the builder, [but also due to] the detail of design incorporated throughout the home, including the kitchen and baths,” reveals Dase. “It was the classicism of the kitchen and baths that attracted the buyer. The attention to detail in the design is what set this house apart from the rest.”

THAT ’20S KITCHEN
Dase began the design process with a list of the builder’s stylistic and functional requirements in hand.

“The builder wanted to create a kitchen that reflected the by-gone era of the 1920s – a time when many of the surrounding homes were built. The “Jazz Age” feel, a “seaside ambiance” and that “Something’s Gotta Give” look were all concept ideas that they wanted to somehow incorporate in the final design. They also wanted to hide any appliances that would not have been available in the ’20s. And, the kitchen needed to provide efficient function not only for everyday tasks, but also be flexible enough to accommodate multiple users when needed during holidays and parties,” explains Dase.