Kitchen Remodeler in San Marino, CA

Period estates and service kitchens around Huntington Drive

The streets on either side of Huntington Drive are lined with Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor, Colonial Revival and Mediterranean houses on generous lots. Their original kitchens were often designed as working rooms for staff, closed off from the living spaces, with a separate butler’s pantry and a breakfast room. Later owners frequently opened them up or combined the pantry into the kitchen.

That history explains the materials people ask for: inset or beaded cabinet doors that respect the house’s millwork, painted finishes in muted tones, and full slabs of marble or quartzite-look stone rather than prefabricated tops. Floors are often original oak in adjoining rooms, so the kitchen floor has to sit comfortably beside it, whether that means matching hardwood or a stone tile with a clear threshold.

Behind the period finishes is a century-old structure. Raised foundations, plaster walls on wood lath and original wiring are typical, and walls are rarely plumb, so inset doors, which show every uneven reveal, need cabinets scribed to the room. Full marble slabs weigh far more than the tile counters they replace, which makes level, well-fastened boxes essential, all the more because the Raymond Fault runs beneath the city. Original oak strip floors next door usually need sanding and a refinish so new and old boards read as one tone.

Kitchen remodel elements San Marino houses tend to need

Lacy Park, El Molino Viejo and the Huntington Drive median

Huntington Drive crosses the city with a broad landscaped median that once carried Pacific Electric rail cars. Lacy Park, about 30 acres with a walking loop, is the city’s main green space, and El Molino Viejo, the grist mill built for Mission San Gabriel around 1816, stands on Old Mill Road. The Huntington’s gardens fill the northern edge of town, and Crowell Public Library sits on Huntington Drive near City Hall.

Water comes from California American Water’s San Marino system, which also reaches parts of neighboring cities, while Southern California Edison handles power and SoCalGas the gas. Deliveries from the Valley usually come over the 134 and 210 and down through Pasadena.

Selecting stone and cabinetry for a San Marino kitchen

1. Photograph the kitchen and the rooms that open onto it, including trim, door casings and existing floors, so new finishes can be judged against them.
2. Drive the 134 west from Pasadena into the Valley, then the 170 to Sherman Way; the showroom is a short way west of the exit.
3. Review door styles and finishes beside marble, granite and quartz samples, and ask to see full slabs when a single sample can’t show the veining.
4. Bring samples home and look at them in the kitchen’s own light, morning and evening.
5. Confirm dimensions with your designer or builder, order, and schedule delivery and installation of the selected products.

San Marino Planning & Building, and what can be checked

San Marino is an incorporated city, and kitchen permits are issued by its own Planning and Building Department rather than LA County. Updating cabinets, counters and floors in place is usually cosmetic. Moving plumbing, adding circuits, relocating a range or removing a pantry wall requires a city permit and properly licensed trades, which are easy to vet on the CSLB website. Exterior changes, such as new windows or an addition, may also go through the city’s design review.

Adcom’s part is the cabinets, stone, tile and flooring, plus installation of what you choose. There are no San Marino projects pictured here, and none are claimed. What can be checked is the drive, the showroom’s fixed Sherman Way address and Google reviews describing granite installers who hand-shaped a difficult section. Homeowners in South Pasadena and Pasadena use the same showroom.