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La Cornue black and stainless steel

La Cornue black and stainless steel.

This past weekend, Matt, my mom, Lois, and I decided to take a sofa-searching trek down to Costa Mesa’s furniture district. According to my friend Andrea, there are stores galore in this area dubbed “SOCO Design Center”, so, of course I suggested we take a look. While weaving our way through the many showrooms, and figuratively beating off with a stick the annoying sales associates who insisted on tailing our every move (one gal I dubbed “Mary Magnet”), we found ourselves drawn to a store called Fixtures Living.

Initially, we did the “open-the-door-peek-inside-then-back-out” move, noticing the place was appropriately filled with, yet not what we were looking for, kitchen and bath fixtures. Then, because of my two coffee-loving shopping companions, we were actually drawn back in by the rich aroma of the complimentary cappuccino and lattes (insert: cloud-aroma hands taking them by the nostrils!).

After indulging in a hot and free beverage, we decided to return the favor and sample some of the merchandise. You see, as we discovered, Fixtures Living is a sort of science museum for the home, chock full of buttons, switches, joy-stick fixtures, even the option to jump into one of their sleek porcelain tubs to see how well you fit. Genius.

We were then directed over to the La Cornue Ranges, where the classic 1958 Cadillac meets your grandma’s (or great-grandma’s) wood stove. These French, hand-built beauties are culinary showstoppers and have been around since 1908, and, according to Fixture’s Living’s website, they are described as having a “patented vaulted oven; ‘French Top’ with variable heat; invented by the guy who wrote ‘The Three Musketeers.'” Ooh-la-la!

La Cornue beautiful detailing and hardware

La Cornue beautiful detailing and hardware.

The French surly know how to accessorize! Just look at the intricate and attention-to-detail detailing of this stove’s hardware and finishing.

La Cornue heating plates

La Cornue heating plates.

This range not only heats up your breakfast, it heats up your house! The miniature heating plates are perfect for a pot of coffee, bacon and eggs. What more do you need?

Antique butcher block with miniature La Cornue stove

Antique butcher block with miniature La Cornue stove.

Nope, you don’t need your eyes checked. This table used to be straight and flat, but with decades of use, the wood continued to compress, smooth and eventually wear into this shape. Hey, the stove still works, so that’s pretty incredible.

Antique flavor

Antique flavor.

It's all in the details

It’s all in the details.

La Cornue stainless steel range

La Cornue stainless steel range.

With so many models to chose from, the only thing keeping me from signing on the dotted line is that I can barely afford the pen. Oh, well…at least I can write it onto the top 10 of my home decor and appliances wish list! (And what’s even more exciting is their price matching program…even with Best Buy! Nice!)

How much money would you be willing to spend on a range like these?

All photography by Skaie Knox, HomeJelly

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