An award-winning kitchen goes the extra mile
Photos by Chuan Ding
With a homeowner who wanted “the best of everything,” Randy Sullivan, founding partner of Gatehouse Partners, a small, hands-on construction management company in Greenwich, Connecticut, knew he and his team had the rare gift of a blank slate for creating a one-of-a-kind kitchen. “We renovated most of this home, which is a traditional Tudor here in Fairfield County,” says Sullivan. “We’ve been working with them for 20 years, and in all that time, we hadn’t changed the previous kitchen, so it was a great opportunity to be really creative.”
With both inspiration and collaboration from architect Jones Byrne Margeotes Partners and interior designer Charlotte Barnes, the resulting space is more transitional than other areas of the home—and yet seamlessly ties in with the high level of luxury and quality in the rest of the interior. “The homeowner was very involved and chose the materials and finishes,” says Sullivan. “And when he said he wanted something to be ‘extra,’ it was ‘extra, extra, extra!’”
Working with luxe materials such as honed Calacatta Gold Extra, Extra, Extra marble, (the triple extra indicates the grade of the stone) wide-plank natural-stained oak flooring, and a five-figure under-mounted semi-recessed burnished-brass kitchen sink, was a pleasure for Sullivan, who incorporated an integrated panel Designer Series Sub-Zero refrigerator and a 48” Wolf range into the space. The room is airy yet warm, with a loft ceiling over the sink area, rift-cut quarter-sawn stained white oak cabinetry, and gold-tone pendant lights. “It is fresh and exciting and a little bit different,” says Sullivan.
It is also a winner. The kitchen has the distinction of earning the 2023 HOBI Outstanding Kitchen Award from HBRA of Connecticut. “When we saw the category, we knew we should submit this kitchen,” says Gatehouse Partners Project and Marketing Manager Heather Rogers Meister. “We had a couple of meetings where we discussed what was a good possibility for us, and in the end, we decided that this kitchen was the epitome of outstanding.”
While the project was completed prior to her joining the company, Meister says, “I can tell you everyone worked really hard to pull this together, and the honor is well deserved. The kitchen is a showstopper.”