Anne Slater & Her Imperial Range

The April 17, 2006 issue of New York Magazine has a great photo of the Chambers Imperial Range in Anne Slater's kitchen. Her make-up room is worthy of a look, too.

Thanks for posting this ha_asfan.

Calling *that* an apartment, as they do in the article, seems a bit off, since it is far bigger--and grander--than most peoples houses!!! Think 'Newport Cottage' shrunk down to Manhattan proportions. . .

The article is up at:

http://www.newyorkmetro.com/realestate/vu/2006/16651/

click on the photo for a slide show of the various photographs in the print journal, including the truly drool-worthy Imperial.

--Danny

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ July 13, 2006 09:06 PM: Message edited by: tux_sf ]</font>

WOW ! Thanks for being so on top of this ! The links are super...

Thanks Ha. What a great article! The stove actually looks like it is just the right size in that setting. The kitchen must be quite large given the actual dimensions of the Imperial. The Imperial would look out of place in our kitchen, but I still wish I could have one. Given time (maybe a millisecond) one could get used to it.

or, can you imagine two or three cooks standing there whipping up your meals !?......in uniforms !

I agree with Danny. Most of the time even the prep part is enjoyable, but occasionally in busier moments it would be nice to have someone help with chopping and peeling. Only a very trusted person would be allowed to touch the Imperial and even then only under close, direct observation! Some of the more destructive members of the family would be prohibited from entering the kitchen unless they were either comatose (preferred) or restrained by hand-cuffs or a strait jacket. I may decide to implement this rule (selectively of course) once the BZ is restored and installed.

LOL, The thought of Anne cooking is like wondering if Jackie O washed her own floors.....I doubt that ever happened. The article mentioned the original cork floor, if the floor is original, the stove has probably maintend that regal position for all these years. I'd pay to see that kitchen in all it's regal glory, what a gem !

That would be a geat tour! Kind of like the Gamble house ( A Green and Green designed three story sumer "cottage" for the Gambles of Proctor and Gamble) in Pasadena. I definitely will ask the docent what kind of stove was originally installed on the next visit.!

Here is a link to the Gamble House web site:

http://www.gamblehouse.org/

<font color="#FFFFFF" size="1">[ July 15, 2006 11:29 AM: Message edited by: Gyrinophilus ]</font>

hmmm. . .NO. . .they could chop, clean & hand me ingredients, but I'd probably want to be standing there doing the actual cooking!

If I really trusted them I'd let them use it to warm things before serving & clean it afterwards, but actually cook on MY Chambers Imperial Range!!??? NEVER!!!

I bet her Imperial has been planted in the same spot since it arrived new those many years ago. Hard to move around a 1000 pound range, which I seem to recall is what these are supposed to weigh.

I wonder if she actually ever cooked on it herself. Somehow she doesn't look much like the cooking type, even to do it as a lark.

--Danny

All I can say is WOW!!!!! What a grand stove and ditto for the apartment. I just hope who ever takes that apartment appreciates the stove...even if they don't cook.

Boy what I could do with a stove like that! It would take up my whole kitchen but I'd be willing to sacrafice.

Treatmaker

The Gamble House is another one of those too amazing to be true structures which causes my brain to whirl in fantasy of what life was like for those folks. And Peter, your local Hollyhock House build by the Barnsdall [?] sisters...what a treat that is and the poor crumbling Ennis Brown House..........back to Anne Slater, to be able to maintain that lifestyle into the 21st century, quite a good deal. The folks she hung around with were questionable [la duke and la duchess] two truly creepy people, not only were they hideous nazi sympathizers and snobs to the snobs but really, were either of them really THAT entertaining ??? Yet, Anne's home was remarkable and I'm glad New York Mag did the article.

Gyri, I remember you said that your grandmother had an Imperial ... can you share some of your memories?

t.

The only people alive who were privileged to see that stove are my mother and aunt. They both remember it well in part because they actually saw the stove and in part because my great aunt (who lived with my grandparents) missed it and spoke about it after they moved (she didn't miss any of their other stoves!). She would have been in complete agreement with the thermowell lovers who have posted odes to thermowell oatmeal (if you are new to the forum do a search on oatmeal) since she frequently mentioned that the cream of wheat and oatmeal made in the thermowell were the best she ever had. She loved those hot cereals and whenever we visited they would appear, much to my dismay as a child, as a breakfast staple (by that time they had moved and left the Imperial behind). My mom recalls that the Imperial was in a very nice home that my grandfather purchased in the 1940's after achieving some success in business, around the time my mother and father were married. It couldn't have been in the same league as the Slater residence, but any private residence that included an Imperial would certainly have been a very nice place.