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New cabinets were painted white to keep the kitchen bright. The pendants over the island were custom-made by Wendy Umanoff.
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The lower presses (cabinets) received upper cabinets to take advantage of the ceiling height, and a library ladder was added. The new breakfast nook has a built-in banquette and pedestal table.
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Black lacquer paint gives the original presses a dramatic new look. On the countertops, cut marks are visible from 100-plus years of use. The glasses are from Marie Taylor’s collection.
Recent renovations to the Taylor mansion on Monument Avenue — site of the 2023 Richmond Symphony League Designer House — include a thorough restoration of the original kitchen wing. Designed by W. Duncan Lee in 1915 for Jaquelin P. Taylor, the owner of the J.P. Taylor Tobacco Co., the house has been continually occupied by the Taylor family. With the 2022 death of local preservationist Helen Marie Taylor, the widow of Jaquelin Taylor’s son, a trust was established to preserve the house. The estate brought in Sam Daniel of Daniel & Company Inc. to manage the restoration. Daniel reached out to Susan Reed, director of historic preservation for Glavé & Holmes Architecture, to oversee work in the kitchen wing.
Daniel suggested that Reed approach the project as if Lee and Taylor were her clients. In her initial assessment, Reed reviewed Lee’s original drawings and specifications, and she discovered his lighting order to Tiffany Studios, as well as letters written to Lee by Taylor detailing how much the home meant to her. After studying an article written by Lee describing his thoughts and support of restoration, Reed began work.
Knowing that she needed to remain faithful to the home and its history, Reed understood that any new elements needed to be in keeping with the original design and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Anything historic that could be restored was, and anything added was inspired by Lee’s specifications of the use of high-quality materials and workmanship.
Wood floors were uncovered and refinished; the plaster walls were repaired. The cold room was transformed into a wine room, an empty store room was made into a powder room with a radiant heated marble tile floor, and a mud room was added. A servant’s hall was removed to bring in additional light and create space for a breakfast nook and coffee bar. Existing cabinets were restored, and marble countertops and new appliances were added.
With the restoration complete, the kitchen wing has the feel of the early 1900s with the comforts of 2023.
