La Cornue’s Culinary Architecture custom kitchen is to cooking what a Ferrari Berlinetta is to Sunday drives

by Evan Monroe

Viking ranges are incredible, no question about it, and we’d be thrilled to pieces to soufflé in any of Thermidor’s ranges, but for extraordinary breath of expression and the ability to combine manorial style with modern performance, there’s simply nothing to compare with La Cornue. A French maker founded in 1908, it introduced the Château range line in 1964 (with a variety of its rollout design components enduring) and produces only a few thousand pieces per year—each manufactured as a single unit, to order, by one craftsman. Fit-in-place models (which start at $7,500) are remarkable in every respect, but La Cornue’s custom installations are nothing short of poetry. Starting with a six-foot-wide Château range, site projects also typically include dining areas, islands, cabinets, and extended cooktops in colors that can be hand specified by the customer, and are additionally noteworthy in that they can include gas and electric components as well as induction, gas, French top, grill, and griddle elements. Seen here is a La Cornue Culinary Architecture bespoke kitchen—featuring a diversity of products made in the company’s Saint Ouen L’Aumône atelier—with a variety of custom elements. It presents a fascinating, ultra-sophisticated, and witty counterpoint to the home’s modern surroundings.

La Cornue Culinary Architecture Bespoke Kitchen
$160,0000,
lacornue.com/en