Built in about 2000, this was one of several 20,000+ square foot homes we were involved in.  In addition to learning how to design decorative air supply and return grilles, this homeowner came back from Paris with what I heard referred to as a “French Master Chef Kitchen.”

The cooking island included several gas burners, griddle, a wok, a salamander, steamer, I don’t really remember, but the owner also wanted an exhaust hood that looked like the one in the kitchen of The Inn at Little Washington.

I hired a fellow who did the UL bench testing for Captive Aire, makers of commercial kitchen exhaust hoods to design and build the hood.  When he told me the exhaust would total 8,000 cubic feet per minute, I knew we had a big problem!

There were several wood burning fire places in the home, one in the breakfast nook next to the kitchen, and one right next to the cooking island that was intended to roast a whole baby pig over wood on a rotisserie!!

It would have been a good time to resign.  Instead, I sized a big plenum in the attic over the kitchen and perforated the kitchen ceiling to introduce the make-up air.  They installed a 20 ton cooling system on the roof and built a parapet wall to hide it.

The hood was beautiful and the fireplaces didn’t back-draft...I’m sure the hood is still beautiful!