Kitchen in front of house not back?

[buckingfrolicks]

I'm buying a lovely old house with a tiny kitchen at the back.

The front door opens into what is described as the dining room. As I live alone I'm vv unlikely to dine there!

Would I be mad to move the kitchen to this room? Everybody coming into the house will enter the kitchen. There is zero possibility of moving the front door or building a hall way.

This way I can knock the wall down between last unheralded and existing tiny kitchen and baddabing - double aspect lounge.

Am I mad?

I think that you might want to take resale value into consideration. If there is absolutely no possibility of a putting a small hallway in, I would be put off by walking straight into a kitchen, a welcoming lounge or dining room, not so much.

I adored having my kitchen at the front (was a separate hallway, bu the door to the kitchen was immediately on the right of the entrance door)
It meant one could see everything in the street while you washed up, which suited me as I'm a nosey type. Current house you're lucky to see anything as we're surrounded by trees.

If possible, I'd build an internal lobby though, will keep the draughts out of the kitchen when the front door is opened.

I love having a kitchen at the front but I don't think I would have my front door into the kitchen purely for the reasons stated above that it will affect your chances of selling in the future.

Our first house had the kitchen at the front and it was fine although we had a hallway the front door didn't open into the kitchen. I don't think I'd have bought it if that was the case.

If the door already opens into a room rather than a hallway then I’d be surprised if it being the kitchen rather than dining room would affect value. You could ask a surveyor.

We've just bought a new house. When looking at houses DH went to view a house that on paper had the kitchen at the back but in reality because the parking was at the back everyone would enter the house via the kitchen. We didn't do a second viewing because of this reason. I was surprised at how strong a reaction I had to this. We were looking at period 4 beds and every other house we looked at had a good sized hallway and walking into the kitchen gives a very different impression and feel to a house. But depending on the layout of the house it may work, maybe get an architect to look at the layout or think about a different options.

Our old house had a kitchen at the front and I loved it, I could potter whilst watching the world go by.

I'd much rather have the sitting room open onto the garden than the kitchen.
Your problem could be if the stairs are in the front room. Im pretty sure building regs state you would need to instal a sprinkler system if it is.
But I think it would look good coming into a cottage kitchen. Really homely.

Just be aware that moving all the plumbing to a different side of the house will make this difficult in an old house.

Having a kitchen at the back of the house so I could look out on the garden and have a back door accessing the garden was an essential for me when viewing houses. I would not have considered a house with a kitchen at the front. And accessing the house at the front via the kitchen sounds odd.

It sounds as though the house is tiny with very few opinions. I don’t really think that moving the kitchen would be bad if it is the only way you’ll get a larger kitchen and actually use the space. Also small old properties are typically quirky so why not.
Would another option be to use the front space as a living room and then knock the old kitchen and living room together to make a kitchen diner with a small sofa area?

My old home had the tiny kitchen at the front. I liked it could look out and be nosy while in the kitchen but relax at the back.

Our current home has the kitchen at the back but we park at the back and use it as our main way in and out. It works well. We knocked through from kitchen into dining room. It makes it far more workable and we wouldn't have used the dining room on its own it would have just been a corridor.

I would check the practicalities of moving the drainage, plumbing and possibly gas first.

It could cost a small fortune.

As some others have said, my kitchen is at the front but off an entrance hall so you don't walk straight into it (but you do have to walk through it to get to the lounge).

I really like it - much prefer having the lounge at the back onto the garden.

My kitchen is at the front and I love it. It's on one side of the front door, with a dining/lounge area to the other. It has a sliding cavity door that's hardly ever used, but is useful. Both rooms have fab views of the front and side gardens. We didn't build the house this way, and have never seen another like it of its period, so guessing it's a bit unusual.

Rather than move all the plumbing and the problem of front door opening directly into the kitchen, which will be a problem for many buyers and may affect resale value, can you do a small extension at the back so that the kitchen is a bit bigger?

I feel I need a floor plan before I can give a proper answer

I quite like kitchens at the front, especially if its a little noisy as they aren't rooms you sit quietly in, but I think you really need a shoe store and coat area as you come into a house so would only do this if there was room for both.

I still moon over a kitchen at the front of a house I saw up for sale years ago. I'd love that arrangement - the back of the house feels so much more private and anyone knocking on the door couldn't hear our tv was on in the lounge.

On principle, yes, I prefer it, but I agree that a hallway is essential. Our house has smaller rooms than most of those we viewed, but the hallways mean that we're not walking through any of them, which makes furniture much easier.

Really useful feedback.

Yes the stairs would be in the kitchen. Damn I hadn't thought of that.

It was reading the horrors of having an extension built, on MN, that made me try and think of alternatives.

Ho hum. It's a gorgeous house and I can't wait to live in it wherever the kitchen is!!

Am going there with architect shortly and will report his verdict

I would rather enter into a kitchen/diner and have a nice separate, private lounge at the back of the house overlooking the garden.

You could enclose the stairs and have a fire door fitted.

having lived in a house with a kitchen in the front I quite liked it, mainly because you could have a coffee and watch the world go by.

Also, as someone mentioned above, it’s great how having the lounge backing the garden as I could relax while still being able to see the kids.

DH works with hits if developers, he says tfst a lot of new hitses are being built with the kitchen at the front for online grocery deliveries.

that makes sense Bike - I was going to say that I've been in lots of newer builds that have the kitchen at the front (but with a corridor first, not straight in)

Grew up in two different houses with a kitchen at the front. Great for all the reasons already stated. Plus, you could have a utility room behind it at the back (if there was space).

Can you add a small porch to the front if no chance of a small hall or vestibule to the room? It's the loss of heat in the winter when the door is open that's really annoying.