Restoring a Kitchen in Cleveland Heights

The Project presented here by Creative Innovations Designs falls into the Old World Design style
category. The Kitchen remodeling was part of restoring a historic home on a historic street in Cleveland Heights.
The house, a large Tudor revival with French and English country influences, was neglected for a long period of
time and needed a total remodel to bring it up to current living standards. However, the main goal was to keep the
spirit of the home while complying with city regulations for historic houses.
There were many problems encountered including, termites affecting the old cabinets along with the flooring
resulting in caving of a part of the kitchen floor. Electrical amperage was inadequate and there was no HVAC, only
radiators with a non-functioning old furnace. Opening up the cluttered pantries and preparation rooms into a larger
functional kitchen was also a challenge since we had to take out the concrete slabs underneath the old tile. The
The kitchen was re-imagined as an open space for family cooking and gathering. Geothermal heating and cooling and
400 amp was installed as well as hydraulic radiant heat underneath the kitchen tile.
The square doors were reconfigured into archways in the kitchen to echo the Tudor detailing; the Wolf stove was
enclosed in a cave with a stone arch and stucco reminiscent of the exterior of the house.
At the far end of the room, stained glass panels discarded from a 1910 church in Chicago were installed to screen
the view from the neighbors. The challenge was to insulate them in order to preserve heat in the space. They were
installed between double insulated glass panes and now glow beautifully in this bright kitchen. Below them,
the farmhouse sink of Egyptian marble hand-chiseled in India ties up the space nicely with the travertine stone tile.
New coffered beams were installed in the 11 ft high ceiling and were hand-chiseled to match the ones in the dining
room that had been imported from Spain in 1920.
Two Sub-Zero 36” built-ins- Freezer and Refrigerator, and a 60” Wolf gas stove with Griddle and Grill added the
a perfect touch to make the kitchen a classic.
The project won a historic preservation award in 2011 from the Cleveland Restoration Society. Another award was
also granted by the city of Cleveland Heights for historic preservation.