A two-part gathering space has a sly reference to Yucatán ingenuity
Marilyn Rogers, who passed away in August, was someone who loved cooking and catering. She could be found hosting friends or sharing her cooking with neighbors (she didn’t speak much Spanish, but food is an international language).
This idea was the foundation of the kitchen she built before the native New Yorker lost her battle with cancer. Before her passing, she allowed us to publish photos of her project — one that she obviously expected to enjoy for years to come.
Marilyn’s kitchen was arranged in two spaces, explains her architect, Fernando Abreu: The first space as you enter the kitchen has an island with an overhead pot rack that serves as a gathering area where she can sit and talk to friends or serve food. The island holds cookbooks that she has gathered through the years.
The second area is the main kitchen where the stove/ oven, sink, and refrigerator are located.
The materials used for this kitchen are cedar wood painted in gray and black matte granite on the counters, giving it an elegant look. The floors are made of crema Maya, a local stone.
One of the features of this kitchen is the cabinet doors that were designed based on the postigos (small windows) from the typical Yucatecan doors with screens on the back that allow for ventilation inside the cabinets to prevent humidity — a very common problem in these old houses made out of mampostería.
Fernando Abreu wrote the original version of this article, which appeared in Issue 5 of Yucatán Magazine.
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