This spacious room was once the heart of the house, where water and fire were kept.
Under the window is the sink, which communicates with the outside via a drainpipe* that empties directly into the street.
Against the wall is the hearth* topped by the wattle and daub mantel. For safety reasons, the dividing walls surrounding the hearth are made of stone. Fire was confined to the kitchen, which is why the stove heating the living room, the Stub, was fed from the kitchen.
The heating system in this house is unique; side by side we find the taque heater (cast-iron plate set into the wall and heating by radiation) of Lorraine origin (hidden in the masonry cooker), and the mouth of the Alsatian plate stove (found in the Stub). The masonry cooker is a replica of two existing examples in the Val de Villé, and had three complementary functions: heating the kitchen, cooking food and baking bread in the oven on the right-hand side.
Next to the kitchen, through the window, we can see a small low room that served as a pantry, the Kucha Kammerle.
We pass into the Stuba Kammer.
- gutter: small channel for draining water
- hearth: part of the fireplace where the fire is lit
- wall: interior load-bearing wall