Back in mid century America, kitchen ranges were commonly 40″ wide. I have long bemoaned the fact that it is very difficult to find this size range — still made new — in the U.S. today. Up until now, the few options I knew of were the 40″ Kenmore and its copycat Frigidaire available in dual-fuel in stainless steel. And, there are similar Frigidaire 40″ wide electric designs — the black Frigidaire 40″ electric range is kinda neat retro looking. Other than these choices, it was: Shop for vintage. But buying vintage can be an *epic* journey, and I recognize that, sometimes, you just don’t feel up for an epic journey. So now, I somehow discovered that there is a nice kind of retro looking 40″ range now available in the U.S.: The Ilve Majestic 40″ dual-fuel, double oven kitchen range.
That’s I-L-V-E. An Italian company. Which is not surprising, since Europe seems to be awash in 40″ wide “cookers.” The company says:
ILVE continues a 50 year heritage of elegant design and powerful engineering, as the finest manufacturer of cooking products in Europe today. Located near magnificent Venice, ILVE artisans hand-assemble the Majestic and Professional Series of ranges and hoods using premium materials for each custom designed piece.
Ilve ranges are not cheap: Online, I spotted prices starting at $6,500 and quickly up.
But these ranges come in the “right” width (although maybe a bit too deep? 27-9/16″, although maybe this includes the handles? They need a better diagram wrt this detail) … they have lots of terrific sounding features… lots of blingy chrome, and come in three real colors — burgundy, emerald green, and midnight blue — in addition to the more normal shades of appliance white, antique white, stainless steel and matte black.
I also like the fact that the range can be ordered dual-fuel. While I prefer to cook with gas on the stove top, I *think* I once learned that an electric-powered oven keeps baking temperatures more constant. Although, the description says the ovens are “convection.” I don’t understand convection. But that’s good, isn’t it?
There are a variety of cook top options — including one with a griddle. And I also kinda like the one with a combo gas- and electric burners, since I *think* that electric heats water up faster.
And, there are numerous other snazzy features — like a rotisserie! And, I think the specs say this is not an option — it’s standard.
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