A kitchen of necessity, luxury

Bill and Ellie Brown are taking the renovating plunge - again.

When they created a Brady Bunch kind of blended family back in 1988, the Browns realized there was just no way six kids and two parents were going to happily share the space of even the most ample model legendary developer William Levitt built in the late 1960s in Willingboro.

The Framingham had five bedrooms - two downstairs, three upstairs. But even though six kids did not always fit neatly into the four bedrooms up for grabs, the Browns loved the community and their location in it. (The Country Club section of Willingboro was designed by the Levitt Co. in the late 1960s around open land near Rancocas Creek that soon became a golf course.)

So the Browns did the next best thing: They literally raised the roof and made room for three more bedrooms, changing the house's appearance with dormers.

It felt a bit like a barn-raising, with neighbors helping and with Bill, an electrical contractor with carpentry and other do-it-yourself skills, directing some of the work. Even with two paid carpenters, the cost came to about $8,000 for materials and labor.

"It all worked well while the kids were at home," says Ellie Brown, an administrator at a local middle school. "But then our needs shifted, and Bill wanted more space for a home office."

He surely got it. Today, Bill occupies much of the former bedroom space on the house's expanded second floor, where he oversees his electrical-engineering consulting business. "I can definitely spread out here," says Bill, who has several pieces of large equipment for electrical-contracting blueprints, along with the usual modern office technology.

But just as they were done rethinking that upstairs space, the couple, empty-nesters now, began to respond to other yearnings. Bill Brown, 70, has taken an interest in cooking, so they gave their original Levitt kitchen a second look.

"It was always a bit cramped, but we got by," says Ellie. "But now that the house is ours without live-in kids, and now that Bill is into cooking, we decided to create the kitchen that we've always wanted."

As anyone who has ever contemplated a major kitchen project learns, making it happen is not quite as simple as wishing it so. Ellie and Bill Brown have spent months poring over plans and seeking input from others, including Bill's daughter, Kimberly Price of Quakertown, a professional space planner and designer.

Ideas have been added and subtracted, space has been rethought, plans have been drawn by Bill, then changed.

But late last month, the project shifted from plan to reality. Pilings were in place for an addition to the rear of the house, and framing was beginning for what will eventually be a completely redone kitchen and eating area, a laundry area, and a family room.

"This time, we're getting not what Mr. Levitt planned 40-some years ago, but what we want - it's our turn now," says Ellie Brown, 66, who sees the renovation as both a necessity and a luxury.

"The kitchen has grown very old - kitchens in the 1960s were very different from today's kitchens. We could have moved into something new and fresh, or stayed and gotten the kitchen we always wanted," she says. "We love the neighborhood, so staying won out."

What is lacking in that Levitt kitchen? There are too few cabinets, and they are shallow - dinner plates have to be stored at an angle. There's so little space for storage that pots and pans "live" in the oven. And then there are the worn counters and flooring and the general wear and tear a kitchen suffers as kids come of age.

This time around, Bill Brown won't be doing the manual labor, although he is assuming the electrical duties. Rich Breece of Artistic Design in Bordentown will be the general contractor, with the project scheduled to take about three months.

The Browns will add about 560 square feet to their existing kitchen/breakfast room/laundry room space, in the process losing a back patio but salvaging some beloved plantings.

Ellie's dream of a bamboo kitchen floor, which she lauds as "ecologically correct"; hickory Shaker-style cabinets; granite counters; and a switch from electric to gas cooking are all part of the package. Most appliances will be replaced.

But like so many who renovate, the Browns have had to give up some things on their wish list. The skylight? Dropped from the plans. The bay window? Ditto.

The estimated cost of the major renovation now hovers at $100,000, and could go as high as $125,000 to $150,000.

The couple know they're in for major disruption. They know that chaos will reign in early autumn. But they've planned ahead, and within a month of the project's start, they hope to have a temporary kitchen set up in their former cramped laundry room.

"We figure that even great restaurant meals will get tiresome after the first couple of weeks," says Ellie. "And we also know that after all the mess and disruption, we'll finally have the space we've waited for since we moved into this house.

"Our only regret is that we waited this long to make it all happen."

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