Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Anyone ever hear of a summer kitchen?

When I visited "Fisherman's Life Museum" at The Head Of Jeddore, in Nova Scotia, the house ( turned museum ) had a summer kitchen.

My tour guide told me that when cooking on a wood stove with the summer heat some houses had a summer kitchen which was basically a porch built onto the house with a wood stove in it. This stove was used during the summer so that the rest of the house would not get all the heat from the stove in the regular kitchen.

Maybe Bridget would of liked to have had a summer kitchen.

Around here it is common for Portuguese families today to have a second kitchen in the basement for the same reason. Much cooler down there in the summer. (It also provides extra stove and oven space for the holidays and special events.)

I grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and it was very common to hear the older people refer to a screened porch as a summer kitchen. Most old houses had a back screened porch right off the kitchen, or a back porch enclosed 3/4 of the way with lattice.

Also common was the second floor screened porch referred to as a sleeping porch, where, in the days before fans and a/c, people slept at night. Being on the second floor, they were able to catch a breeze at night and it made sleeping more comfortable in the hot, muggy days of summer.

A summer kitchen in the U.S.A. referred to a non-connected out house that served as a cooking area especially during the hot months. It was for keeping the heat of the cooking fires from heating up the rest of the house, and also to prevent losing the entire house in case of a chimney fire. George Washington's Mt. Vernon home has a nice example of a summer kitchen. My father was a History teacher so all of our vacations as kids centered around American History.

My house, built in the early 1890s has what once was a summer kitchen, though now it is an enclosed porch. Remnants of its former use are apparent though, such as capped off water pipes and a place where a vent was for a stove. The "main kitchen" is adjacent to this, along with a room which was once a pantry, now converted into a second bathroom. Things like this are very common to find in older homes in the northeast..some of the larger houses, especially down south had a separate building for a kitchen; others had one in the basement where it was cooler on summer days.

We have them in a few older houses in Australia too, though surprisingly few, considering the heat of our summers. I think it is an excellent idea, really, and necessary for the poor cook in the days before air conditioning or even electric fans.

I would love a summer kitchen, especially in an outbuilding.

I saw a summer kitchen in a colonial home at Old Sturbridge Village. It was actually quite large & it was for the reason of the heat in the summer. Also it provided for a lot more storage.

Austin023, I have been very rude by not welcoming you to the forum. Please accept my apology. It's better late than never: Welcome. It's good to see you posting, and I hope you will continue to do so.

twinsrwe wrote:Austin023, I have been very rude by not welcoming you to the forum. Please accept my apology. It's better late than never: Welcome. It's good to see you posting, and I hope you will continue to do so.

Oh, Thank you very much! I am sorry for a late reply though--and I appreciate your consideration ;) I have studied this case for years now, and I am glad to now be a part of this forum. I look forward to some great, interesting conversations here!

You're welcome, Austin023.