History of Kitchens

Breaking bread is such a time-honored tradition that the room where we gather with loved ones has taken on a special importance. But it hasn't always been such a pleasant place. The kitchen has traveled a long and winding road through history, sometimes as part of the only room in a home, and at other times tucked at the back of the house, as far from guests as possible. Let's travel back in time and take a look.

Ancient Egypt

Hieroglyphics, tools and pottery discovered over the years give us a general idea of what Egyptian kitchens looked like and the tools they used. As is so often the case, the kitchen was a crucial part of the culture.

Its shape and size varied widely from house to temple to palace: sometimes it was the only room in a tiny home, other times a large area inside a palace. Egyptian tools were simple, including hearths, ovens, mortars and pestles, metal blades, stone and clay urns, baskets, pans, plates, pitchers and sieves. Egyptians made bread, beer, wine, meat, kebabs, stews, fowl and eggs, though their diet was mainly bread, beer and vegetables.

Ancient Rome

Poorer Romans usually lived with their whole family in one small room. Like the Egyptian working class, they had no separate cooking area, so they cooked on a brazier in their room or bought food already cooked from street vendors. Slightly better-off Romans with a courtyard could cook outside when the weather allowed, and because braziers were portable, the cooking area could easily move between inside and out.

Wealthy Romans had kitchens in their houses, but they didn't cook in them themselves; enslaved people cooked for them. As a result, Roman kitchens were tiny, cramped and at the back of the house, where nobody would see them.

These kitchens usually had clay ovens with a burner on top, much like our stoves, heated by a charcoal fire. Some had wooden cupboards for dishes and food, and racks on the walls for pots and pans. Romans sometimes used flues inside their walls to draw out smoke, but chimneys didn't appear until the 12th century, in large buildings such as castles. The earliest surviving English example, from 1185, is at Conisbrough Castle in Yorkshire.

The Middle Ages

Like the poor in Egypt and Rome, medieval peasants cooked over an open fire in a one-room home. Life revolved around the hearth because it was the source of light, heat, safety and, of course, food. Smoke rose through a louver: a domed ventilation structure on the roof that could be closed by pulling strings, a bit like Venetian blinds.

The wealthy dined in great halls, some with chimneys and some without. The chimney may have been invented by 1185, but without the internet it took a while for word to spread.

Castle kitchens were a different beast altogether. Placed outside the great hall for fire safety, they were full of spits roasting meat and large iron cauldrons bubbling with soups and stews. Lambs, cattle, pigs and ducks were penned nearby, some castles kept ponds stocked with fish, and herbs and vegetables grew in nearby gardens. Castle kitchens could be large enough to roast up to three whole oxen at once, and feasts often reached epic proportions.

The 18th and 19th Centuries

French-style cooking spread across Europe and North America, bringing strict etiquette, sophisticated dishes and formal table settings. Servants played a large role, serving multiple dishes per course at dinner parties that could last for hours, and dinner was often the highlight of the day.

This era brought many technical advances that greatly reduced time and labor in the kitchen. One of the most curious was the turnspit dog, bred to run in what was essentially a hamster wheel that turned a roasting spit. The trend didn't last long, because clockwork mechanisms were soon invented to keep the spit turning.

Coal, gas, cast iron, electricity and plumbing all had huge impacts on the kitchen. Cast iron stoves became a staple around 1850 and were far more efficient than cooking in a fireplace. Kitchens became much more pleasant to work in, but people still didn't entertain guests there, and there was little to no storage space.

The Early 1900s

Gas became the preferred source of heat, and the kitchen as we know it slowly began to take shape as efficiency took hold. Around the turn of the century, the Hoosier Manufacturing Company revolutionized kitchens with its freestanding cabinets, beginning an evolution that eventually led to today's seamless contemporary cabinetry.

In 1926 came the Frankfurt kitchen, designed by Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky and influenced by Frederick Winslow Taylor's ideas about efficiency. Its focus on organization, with every necessary item within arm's reach, changed the way people thought about kitchen design.

The 1930s and '40s

The Frankfurt kitchen gave rise to the "fitted kitchen," which blossomed in the 1930s and '40s for those who could afford it. A fitted kitchen has cupboards, shelves and appliances built into specific places where they fit exactly. Fitted cabinetry and appliances made kitchens more intentional and attractive and improved the workflow. Labor-saving devices, time-saving tools and more stylish designs made the kitchen more comfortable, and a source of pride.

The 1950s Through the 1980s

With the war over and soldiers returning home, interest in home cooking, kitchen gadgets and entertaining surged. Combined with postwar technological advances, that transformed kitchen appliances. Quiet ventilation hoods, shiny ovens with matching refrigerators, microwaves, dishwashers and designer countertops all became commonplace.

Life was happening in the kitchen once again. It became a place to hone culinary skills, display designer cookware and gather socially. By the 1980s, the idea of a completely open kitchen, with appliances designed to show off, had arrived, giving birth to the trophy kitchen.

The 1990s

Trends of the '90s included oak cabinets, brass light fixtures, white kitchens, ivy wall designs, black granite countertops, black-and-white tile and hunter green paint. The decade's emphasis on self-expression carried into the kitchen: Zen Buddhism's growing popularity brought Japanese decor into many American homes, while others filled their kitchens with pine tables and cabinets. Decor varied widely, but most kitchens shared an L-shaped work area.

Kitchens of Today

Kitchens today vary greatly from home to home, but contemporary kitchens dominate the market. A true contemporary kitchen elegantly blends beauty and function, with cool colors, plenty of cabinet space, large islands and quartz countertops. Cabinet design favors clean lines, veneers and handleless doors.

In higher-end homes, cabinets are integrated into the wall for a seamless appearance, with appliances built in behind matching panels, like the kitchen at the top of this post. It's a direct descendant of the Frankfurt kitchen. No one knows what the next revolution will be, but it will be fascinating to see the next chapter in the history of kitchens.

Ready to write your kitchen's next chapter? Explore our kitchens.