Character with Modesty

With remarkable attention to detail, the owner created a period kitchen that's both functional and perfect for the 1925 house.

- By Patricia Poore / Photos by Gridley + Graves

Built in Westwood, New Jersey, during a 1920s housing boom, the Dutch Colonial is in an eclectic neighborhood of working-class houses: Colonial Revivals, Tudors, a few Arts & Crafts bungalows.

“When I went looking for a home,” Matthew Corso shares, “I had two things in mind: that it be close to family, and that it be a manageable project involving a house with character intact. Previous families had loved the house and done minimal modernizing. It was so original. Only the kitchen and lone bathroom needed to be overhauled.”

In the kitchen, woodwork and windows are original. The rest had become a hodgepodge, with no permanent cabinetry and a 1970s fridge parked in front of a window. This DIY owner pulled up layers of Congoleum and vinyl and sanded the heart-pine subfloor. Then he went on multiple searches for salvaged materials and even old appliances.

“My idea was to create a vintage-style kitchen using vintage parts,” Corso says. “It had to go with the vibe of the house yet be functional; I wasn't going back to a small oven on legs and an icebox.” He designed his kitchen to look as if the original space had evolved with the house.

1. DESIGN IN KEEPING