A Long Island home's second kitchen meets cultural and budgetary needs

Teri Barr and Moshe Albaum of Great Neck wanted a kitchen where they could consume kosher foods, so instead of renovating their existing kitchen, they bought the 1,100-square-foot apartment next door and expanded it at a cost of more than $240,000.

Now, the 300-square-foot kitchen accommodates kosher cooking and entertaining needs, as well as several additional appliances.

“Everything in my kitchen has to be kosher and stay kosher when it gets to my kitchen,” says the mediator, Mr. Barr, 71. “We have a meat dishwasher and a pareve dishwasher, which is for non-meat and non-dairy products. We also have three sinks, two ovens, a warming oven and a large refrigerator.”

Bahr kitchens reflect Long Island’s cultural and ethnic melting pot, and some homeowners choose to install additional appliances in their existing kitchens or build second kitchen additions to accommodate their unique cooking requirements.

But as home prices on Long Island continue to reach record highs, real estate experts say the rising cost of living is driving demand for second kitchens.

Multigenerational needs

Real estate agents say some clients are specifically looking for homes that already have a second kitchen or have spaces that can be adapted to fit religious or cultural needs.

But this isn't a new trend, said Orfei Abebanjo, 49, an associate broker at Keller Williams Legendary in Franklin Square.

“There's always a cultural reason for a second kitchen,” Abebangio says. “For Jews, it might be a kosher kitchen. In Italian culture, there's what's called a summer kitchen, where most of the cooking happens in the basement and the main kitchen is kind of a showplace.”

Rising living and housing costs are putting many first-time homebuyers out of reach, so multigenerational homes are the only way to remain affordable for some.

— Dean Lykos, broker at Douglas Elliman

Home prices on Long Island are changing, with many buyers looking for homes with second kitchens for large families living together, said Dean Lykos, 39, a licensed real estate broker with Douglas Elliman in Dix Hills.

“The rising cost of living and housing has put many first-time homebuyers out of reach, so multigenerational homes are the only way to make it affordable and accessible to some,” Lykos said. “It's very convenient for extended family members to share expenses and be under the same roof.”

Mr. Lykos put his Farmingdale home on the market in April and it attracted more buyers than he expected: “Most of the people who came were interested in the second kitchen for the family.” The home sold on the 18th for $35,000 above the $775,000 asking price.

How the second kitchen is used depends on the family's situation, Lykos said: Some people use it as a separate kitchen, while others use the second kitchen to prepare extra food for family events.

“If you have a large family gathering during the holiday season, you'll probably use both,” Abebanjo said.

With limited inventory, some buyers are looking for homes with floorplans that don't include a second kitchen but have the space to add one later, Lykos said. These typically include high-runch or split-level homes.

“It's easier to add a second kitchen to an existing space in a style that might function as another type of room,” he said. “It's harder in a Colonial or Cape because that might eliminate a bedroom.”

Abebanjo, who sells homes in the Five Towns area, agreed, saying there are many homes with two kitchens in the area.

“For those who don't, they just need to find a space, whether finished or unfinished, like a laundry room or a basement, where they can put in a second kitchen,” he says. “If they have a space they can remodel, it makes perfect sense for them.”

Special Cooking Needs

Debra Russell, a real estate advisor with Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty in Cold Spring Harbor, said gas kitchens are especially desirable in some cultures because of the extremely high heat they use for cooking.

“Customers are looking at homes that have this option, but they're not going to say they won't buy because they don't have the option,” she said. “If there's natural gas on the street and it's not in the house, customers are going to be open to having natural gas.”

Susana Duran, 50, co-owner and designer at NTIC Designs in Hicksville, has been designing about three second kitchens a year since 2011 in towns including Hempstead, Syosset, Babylon, Bayshore and East Islip. She said many homeowners are looking for commercial exhaust fans to prevent cooking odors from spreading to other parts of the house. Most residential fans are 200 to 600 CFM (cubic feet per minute) and cost more than $200, while commercial fans used in residential units are 600 CFM or more and cost more than $1,000.

“Each vent has a different installation cost because each one requires its own outlet,” she says, which means you might need a 20-amp outlet and breaker instead of a 15-amp.

That was one of the things Michelle and Stanley Chin wanted when they renovated their kitchen after moving into their Tudor-style Russell Gardens home in 2017. To suit Michelle's cooking preferences, which include using Chinese spices and oils, she installed an industrial fan.

But it's still not powerful enough to keep odors at bay, and it's hard to clean, so she wants to replace it with one made in China. There's also a steam oven in the center island, where she cooks fish and vegetables and keeps rice warm. In fact, there's a regular oven, but she says she never uses it.

“The steamer is one of the best things we've added. We use it to steam fish and veggies. It's so convenient. We use it almost every day,” Michelle said.

Unique additions

Three things designer Nava Slavin asks her clients:

1. What do you want to do and why?
2. How much space do you actually have to work with?
3. How much is the budget?

Lykos recommends buyers looking to add another kitchen educate themselves on their options and work with professionals who specialize in exemptions from existing zoning laws, such as a state real estate attorney or contractor. Given that homes sell quickly in this market, he says, “you need to know what steps are involved, what costs are involved, what types of permits you'll need, and what's required from each city and county to make it happen.”

The permit application process required to obtain a proper certificate of occupancy, especially if the property is to be resold, varies by municipality and currently takes four to six months, Duran said.

“If you're adding or expanding your home, it will depend on the design and where you want to put the second kitchen,” she says. “If you want to install a second stove or sink, you'll need a permit. Most towns require you to apply for a building permit and/or plumbing permit for any additional features.”

Designer Nava Slavin, president of Creative Edge in Roslyn, says she asks her clients to focus on what they want to do and why they want to do it. “The second thing to consider is how much space you actually have to work with and your budget, because having two of everything is going to be expensive,” Slavin says.

Duran adds that homeowners should also consider that their taxes may go up, “and you'll also notice an increase in your electricity and gas usage that you never thought about. So make sure you can afford a second kitchen or extra appliances. You may also need to upgrade your electricity to 200 amps if your new appliances don't have enough amps.”

Are you on a tight budget?

But it doesn't have to be an expensive renovation. Duran says that for many of her clients, the second kitchen is simply a functional one. “They have a nice kitchen that's basically just for show, but the other kitchen is where they actually cook.” So, while you'll want to invest in quality appliances, you don't need top-of-the-line cabinetry.

“It's like a personal kitchen, so you can have more fun with it. It's your own space, not just another space to show off,” Duran says. “White is on trend right now, but we're seeing a lot of people playing with different colors in their second kitchens, like blue cabinets and butcher block countertops.”

As with any kitchen renovation, Duran said people should be prepared to spend more than $40,000, especially if they have to hire an architect to add on the room.

But resale is usually not an issue, so it may be worth the investment.

“Most of the time, people think more is better than less,” Abebanjo says, “but if you're in a situation where you have two kitchens that you don't really need, you could buy a house, remove the kitchens, and basically have another room that you can use however you want.”