Richard and Amy’s First Stove

This is our original “St. Gallen” Kachelofen.This was also the first SHKO stove with an integrated cooktop. The main fire chamber (heating) and the secondary fire chamber (cooking) share a single chimney.

This Kachelofen was part of a larger house renovation done in 2013. SHKO was brought in towards the end of the design process, but after a site visit and extensive input from Jessica the clients decided to significantly alter their floor plan. Amy is a professional chef. The original layout had the kitchen and the Kachelofen in separate areas of the house. Jessica pointed out that the oven would be a natural place for people to congregate, and that hosting events would be easier if the kitchen was closer to the Kachelofen. Bringing the two areas into close proximity of one another created an extremely functional open living area.

The clients wanted to have the text of a meaningful poem written on one side of the oven. They chose Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front, by Wendell Berry. The words were handwritten with dark slip in the “reading nook.”

You can watch a fun video of the 2013 installation here