The Kitchen
In 2017, my husband (Eric) and I started our dream project…really it was his but I added a twist!
When we started dating in 2012, we had a lot of long talks about all the things we wanted to accomplish and do in our lives. One of Eric’s long-time dreams was to build a firehouse. No, he’s not a firefighter. I get that question a lot! However, he collects vintage fire engines. He has restored a few, he has shown them and his family used to compete in Fire Musters. However, what really drives him is preserving pieces of history. He hates to see a great piece of history destroyed. Some of his history has a lovely rusty patina to it…If you’re curious where the name “RA Kitchen” came from—its short for Rusty Acres Kitchen. I nick named our property “Rusty Acres” because of my husband’s hobby collecting vintage pieces of iron with that lovely rusty patina.
When he started telling me about this firehouse he would “someday” build, I said, it must have a great kitchen! Don’t all firefighters like to cook?? I have no idea if that’s true but he played along with me. You see, in 2013 I went to culinary school. A dream of mine. I love cooking! I love cooking for my family, friends and people who like to eat. I didn’t have a career path picked out. Honestly, I wanted to see if I could do it and do it well. Turns out I could!
Eric and I were married in 2015 and my girls and I moved into his house with 2 of his 3 kids. His oldest daughter was already away at college at the time. Eric started drawing what the firehouse would look like and I started planning my kitchen. That kitchen initially started out with used restaurant equipment, lots of open shelving and concrete counters. The concrete counters were going to be my big splurge. Let’s just say the more “research” I did, the more my ideas evolved.
The biggest game changer was finding my red stove. I mean, RED for a Firehouse…how could you not??? It’s the most asked about piece of the kitchen and I love it! It’s a French piece of beauty. Drumroll please….its a Lacanche. And it’s just plain awesome. When I decided on the stove a few other things elevated a bit. A custom island and desk area. I have a weird obsession with desk areas/offices…goes with my love of office supplies. It’s a very functional kitchen with lots of space to entertain and cook big meals.
At present time The Firehouse and RA Kitchen is mostly finished. We enjoy hosting our family and friends for Friday night dinners, Thanksgiving or whatever event requires a larger space. I got a lot of questions after culinary school about what I was going to do with my cooking. Well, I’m still working on that but this is a pretty fun place to practice!
