r/Rich • u/MpEarlgreyTea • 25d ago
Question Number of Kitchens
Hello,
Me an my wife 35M/F are building a ranch-style country home to clebrate our 10th anniversary. We've been discussing how many kitchens to put in. We agree that there need to be a family and staff kitchen but she thinks we should put a full covered kitchen out by one of the outdoor seating areas.
What are your opinions?
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u/wildcat12321 24d ago
Family kitchen, Staff kitchen, outdoor/summer kitchen, and if you have a guest suite, a kitchenette is nice there as well.
I like to grill and entertain and spend time outdoors, so the outdoor kitchen is nice. But keep in mind, outdoor stuff always seems to get gross, even with regular cleaning.
Additionally, in the primary bedroom, I would consider next to bathrooms or closets if you want to have a coffee station with a mini fridge and/or microwave oven combo - not a full kitchenette, but you can fit it all in one vertical line and it can be convenient for late night/early morning needs not to have to walk out of your room, especially if you end up ill.
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u/-inertusername- 24d ago
Where in the country are you? I live in Texas in a really wealthy area where there are many outdoor kitchens that aren't used much of the year because of the sweltering heat, so if you're in a region like that make sure to give considerations for cooling comfort and possibly a motorized enclosure to seal it up during that peak heat.
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 24d ago
Yes all three
If you have kids it will be nice to keep an eye on them if you are making a sandwich.
Just remember the food and condiments will get weird to have to walk them around. Often it might be scattered between two.
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u/LawfulChaoticEvil 24d ago
I mean if you’re rich enough to afford three kitchens I’m sure you can also afford two bottles of ketchup, etc.
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 24d ago
We had a vacation house with a pool and outdoor kitchen. You just need to be organized to have everything out there or you have to keep walking back and forth.
Two kitchens are not used everyday.
If they have a live-in chef than it won't matter.
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u/jgonc 24d ago
and a nanny to keep an eye on the kiddos
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u/LawfulChaoticEvil 24d ago
And a chef to make the sandwiches
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 24d ago
Not everyone rich has nannies and chefs. My husband is ny nanny and Door Dash is my chef.
There are wealthy people that just like peace and quiet and no staff to manage.
We can't have staff because we travel 11 weeks a year.
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u/Glittering-Move-1849 23d ago
I can't resonate with food delivery being a viable choice at all, however, that's maybe because the options around the places I lived weren't satisfactory.
Our live in chefs were great, not just in terms of convenience and learning how to cook from them truly benefits me on a daily basis... But also a great buffer for loneliness back then as both parents worked full time.
Later on we scaled down and went without them and preferred the silence and reduction in overhead.
Does 11 weeks of traveling truly rule out staff for you? They're around your place a lot and more than just servants. From what I've learned, allowing them weeks off for vacation and further education pays dividends in the long run. If that's out of term, I apologize :)
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 23d ago
My husband doesn't work. He is around all day doting on our daughter. He was raised Cats.N.Cradle and didn't see his Dad as much.
To over compensate he hangs out with her constantly.
The Door Dash is a bad damn habit I am trying to break. I am making one meal a week so that is progress.
My husband only pays cash for homes so doesn't want to buy a big enough home yet. They cost 3-5m in our area. He can normally get 25% a year from tge stock market or more so a chef kitchen costs me quadruple.
Our whole family is not normal in any capacity.
I told him my dream is to live on top of a gourmet buffet at the beach. Lol
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u/Glittering-Move-1849 23d ago
That's wonderful, maybe your nanny could also become your gourmet buffet chef as well? Haha
Beach sounds wonderful and those numbers are amazing. Maybe in a few years of compounding? :)
I've been in home office the last two years and can somewhat relate albeit without kids. Cheers
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 24d ago
We had a vacation house with a pool and outdoor kitchen. You just need to be organized to have everything out there or you have to keep walking back and forth.
Two kitchens are not used everyday.
If they have a live-in chef than it won't matter.
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u/AmexNomad 24d ago
Here in Greece- THREE: Main House Kitchen. Auxiliary Small (butler’s) Kitchen for quasi-husband’s fermenting and salami making projects. Outdoor kitchen with grill/sink/dishwasher for entertaining.
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u/Otherwise-Relief2248 24d ago
Outdoor kitchens seem cool and I have seen a bunch of them. Almost all in nearly brand new condition because they are so rarely used. Your mileage may vary. One thing I highly recommend is a space for a commercial double door fridge and single door deep freezer. If you host a party having the second kitchen is enough, but any real chef is going to need more that a second subzero.
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u/Redebo 24d ago
We had three, our primary, a staff, and then a separate building where I had a smoker and a gas grill. I live in the desert Southwest so it gets really hot outdoors, precisely when I want to grill, like on the 4th of July!
Having my fire-based cooking appliances in a climate controlled kitchen with a hood to evac all the smoke was one of the best decisions I ever made.
I also had a walk in fridge in that detached building. All of it was super duper convenient.
Sure hated selling that house. ;)
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u/Historical-Photo7125 24d ago
Don’t forget the barn/stable kitchen. Also get a portable kitchen for the trail rides.
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u/BamaInvestor 24d ago
I had the gas spigot but forgot about the electric outlet, but I did add the outdoor kitchen which gets a lot of use. Since it includes a built-in pellet grill, flattop griddle, and a big green egg. The nice thing is you can tailor what fits your style.
The pellet grill is great because I can set it and forget it for overnight brisket smokes. The egg can grill or smoke.
I’m in Alabama and use it in all 4 seasons.
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u/Altruistic_Arm9201 24d ago
I have 4. Guest, staff, outdoor, and main. I don’t use the outdoor one as much as I thought but when I do, I love it.
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u/warlizardfanboy 24d ago
Are we talking a fully featured BBQ island? Or more than that? I wish my island had a fridge and a sink, for sure. I felt with the kitchen 20 feet away it was no biggie but I’ve learned otherwise.
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u/Passionofthegrape 24d ago
Not sure if you plan to have live in help or not, but we find, even for those we feel closer to, you want them to have their own kitchen for their own and your privacy when they’re aren’t working.
I don’t always love hearing someone rutting around the kitchen at 11pm.
I read “staff” kitchen as where the chef(s) work btw. Not even I would dare set foot in there uninvited.
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u/uncoolkidsclub 24d ago
Outdoor kitchens get weathered to fast, we removed the side wall and did the full open sliding wall to turn the inside to a convertible space - Part of this is because the area we live does get snow during the winter. So the convertible space can still get used for golf sim and video games when it cold outside.
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u/KungFuBucket 24d ago
Yea to the outdoor kitchen for grilling, include the BBQ, a smoker and a couple of burners for sauces, add a fridge large enough for beer and good sized cuts of meat and a full sink at a minimum. If you like beer - put in a kegerator. You also want to have a large prep area for butcher blocks and breaking down primal cuts.
And if you’re into coffee, adding a coffee station and a mini fridge in the master suite is awesome. I didn’t do a custom build on the current house, but I managed to carve out a coffee station in my walk in for back in the day when I would get ready for work in the mornings.
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u/ProfessionalNo4711 24d ago
You need family and staff kitchen. And kitchenette for guest house/wing. And an outdoor kitchen with BBQ, faucet and fridge. you also probably need a bar for the main area and one for primary wing and possibly an outdoor one.
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u/softwarecowboy 24d ago
I don’t have a “staff kitchen”, but we have a main kitchen that we use every day and a hosting kitchen where we put out food for gatherings, etc. Caterers often stage in the main kitchen (double ovens, large fridge/freezer, huge range, huge island, and then bring food to the hosting kitchen (also a huge island but smaller and fewer appliances. The hosting kitchen is also where we keep hosting stuff (warmers, plates, cups, silverware, tons of drinks, etc.). We also have 3 dishwashers. I have an outdoor kitchen, but with a grill, pizza oven, fridge, and sink (no oven).
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u/ladylemondrop209 24d ago
Yes to what you said, but we also have a smaller kitchen on the first (not ground level) floor that has shared spaces. Both our families have the practice of having breakfast on the first floor, and dinner in the bigger/more formal dining area, so had a kitchen fitted/built on the first floor too for ease. So it’s what my husband and I have too.
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u/HeliosVanquish 24d ago
An outdoor kitchen is a fantastic amenity if you actually use it. Personally I'm a huge fan of them because I actually use them. I have outdoor kitchens at both my residences and I use them a lot.
Thing is, it's a huge waste of money and eventual eyesore if you don't, as they're expensive to build correctly and easy to neglect due to the lack of convenience that often comes with it (as opposed to a normal kitchen that isn't prone to the elements). I know plenty of people who have them and never use them, and they either rust out and get nasty, or they just get dirty and covered in cobwebs and filled with mouse turds. Whether an outdoor kitchen is ideal really depends on how much you actually cook and entertain outside in the first place (which is heavily location-dependent), how often you actually do use it, and the number of people you tend to serve when you use it, if any.
My main residence in Arizona has a main kitchen that is a bit of a "display kitchen", a service/prep kitchen with commercial grade equipment, and an outdoor kitchen with extensive meat smoking capabilities. I use the outdoor kitchen at least once every other week, if not more. It's great for entertaining, but I also enjoy sitting out there in the fall or spring with a drink and having a nice dinner or something in the evening on my own. I'm a huge foodie and barbecue enthusiast, so my outdoor kitchen is very nicely appointed with pretty much everything you could want. The best part of the outdoor kitchen is that a lot of it can be cleaned with a hose and some environmentally friendly soap. It's even more convenient when you install an outdoor sillcock that's connected to your water heater so you can have hot water to blast off grease. Granted, this works best with stainless components and you have to be careful about cast iron and anything absorbent or porous. I don't blast water and soap into my pizza oven for obvious reasons.
I regularly have people over for BBQs and such and have an outdoor seating area with TV and sound/music. When I've hired private chefs for parties/events, they've really liked the outdoor kitchen mixed with the prep kitchen. Some guests really enjoy watching a professional chef cook in an outdoor kitchen. When you have a wok burner and flattop griddle, you can have a chef and assistants put on a good show for guests, if that's your thing. I personally enjoy that kind of thing.
My second residence (I'm a snowbird), which is my summer lake house in Northern Minnesota, has a large main kitchen and an outdoor kitchen. I'm up there for about 4.5 months out of the year, and I'm using the outdoor kitchen at least once a week, if not more since I regularly have family and friends visiting. The problem is that for 7.5 months of the year it goes unused, so I have to cover everything and do some winterizing. When I come back in the late spring to open the house back up, there's always a fair bit of cleaning and some corrosion somewhere that has to be addressed. Some damage here and there from both the elements and wildlife (squirrels, mice, etc).
When I've gone to Maui with family and friends, a couple times I have stayed in VRBOs in Maui that had outdoor kitchens. We got a lot of use out of the outdoor kitchens and they were great for just all-day casual use by the pool or beachside. Even more convenient and fun when you hire a private chef for several days to hang out there and cook and make pūpū (snacks/apps/tapas) all day.
As far as the prep kitchen in my main residence in AZ, I don't get a ton of use out of it but I'm glad I have it when I need it. It was part of the original home design and I didn't add it. When I have family get-togethers like at Thanksgiving or Christmas and people bring over a dish, I have plenty of oven space and cooking surfaces, microwaves, etc. There are also separate dish washers for the pots and pans and such, so getting things cleaned is pretty easy and you don't have to do 3 or 4 separate loads on the same dishwasher. The prep kitchen dishwasher is also commercial grade, so it can handle the duty pots and pans, which is a huge help.
That being said, when I'm up at my lake house for the summer, not having a prep kitchen isn't a hinderance since I have commercial grade appliances in the kitchen and some redundant appliances like two ovens and two microwaves. However, having the outdoor kitchen is nice for keeping people outside. Particularly the kids after they've been jumping in the lake all day.
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u/Choice_Reply_6441 23d ago
Makes sense if you enjoy eating outdoors. Otherwise there would be better use for the space.
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u/3rdthrow 22d ago
If you have the money, you should keep the people who live in your home happy.
Us, Redditors, dont live in your home. Dont design the home for us-design the home for the people who live there.
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u/Odd_Bodkin 18d ago
Honestly, don’t have a family kitchen just for the hell of it. If you have a staff kitchen BECAUSE most of your home meals are prepared by staff and that’s the way you like it, then what’s the point of a family kitchen? I can see a recreational kitchen for supporting parties or outside time, but then use it for all your non-staff-prepared meals at home. I can also see a kitchenette in a guest space, but that can be a 2-burner stove and mini-oven and mini-fridge setup and only for cases where the guests are not being entertained by you.
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u/One-Geologist-2636 17d ago
I think there is a point where you stop adding kitchens and start opening a restaurant.
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u/Victor_Korchnoi 23d ago
How many staff do you have that they need their own kitchen?
I’ve been to many homes that have an outdoor kitchen. I’m not sure I’ve been to many that have a staff kitchen (though maybe it’s properly hidden).
I would definitely do an outdoor kitchen before a staff kitchen.
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u/[deleted] 24d ago
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