The Model Viking

In the luxury houses at Gentry Homes’ Cypress Point, no detail goes unnoticed. The community sits adjacent to the world-class Arnold Palmer-designed golf course in the quiet residential area of Ewa. The 3,500-square-foot, semi-custom homes, which won the Building Industry Association’s prestigious 2006 Parade of Grand Champions award, are outfitted with grand courtyard entries, oversize shaded lanai and master suites, along with functional perks, such as Energy Star®-rated central air and low-emissions, dual-pane windows. For the model home’s kitchen, Gentry chose to feature high-end appliances by Viking Range Corp.

“The major reason we chose Viking is quality,” says Rick Hobson, vice president of marketing for Gentry Homes. “Nobody has put that level of quality into production homes. It’s the first semi-custom home to include appliances of this quality and price point. There are only 27 of these homes and they needed to be appointed with distinctive features.”

Each model home, with views of the golf course, features a Tuscan-inspired kitchen with travertine tile floors and granite countertops. The 15-by-25-foot kitchen offers a walk-in pantry, a center island with a Kohler sink, and cabinets that showcase European styling, with glass-front doors and details such as chestnut-stained, raised-wood crown molding.

The Viking Professional Series appliances, however, are what set the stage for this high-end kitchen.

“There is a design integrity to all of our products,” says Al Lum, of Viking Range Corp. “We don’t use different-colored knobs or different-style handles … so everything is seamless and blends together. It’s subtle and appealing to the eye.”

But it’s the power of this line that sets the hearts of serious cooks aflutter.

The 48-inch, side-by-side Viking refrigerator/freezer, with ice and water in the door, is the largest of the company’s Professional Series line. The refrigerator features different zones of storage—much like a supermarket, Lum says. The meat storage drawer for instance, can have a surrounding temperature that is five degrees cooler than the rest of the refrigerator to exactly 33 degrees, allowing meats and fish to be stored at optimum levels.

While Viking’s 36-inch gas range can perform a variety of stove-top tasks, it also accommodates the needs of bakers and steak connoisseurs. The convection oven provides even heat distribution and holds up to six cookie sheets at once. The oven also features an infrared gas broiler that can reach temperatures of 1,500 degrees, allowing the home cook to perform tasks usually relegated to steakhouses.

“With this kind of intense heat, you can make a good-looking rare steak,” Lum says. “The high heat will caramelize the outside, but inside it will be rare and even cold, if you like.”

The 36-inch hood matches the power of the range, with a ventilator that turns 1,200 cubic feet of air per minute. Also included in the kitchen are a 24-inch Viking undercounter dishwasher, a 30-inch wall oven, with full extension bottom rack, and a Viking microwave.

All of the appliances in the Professional Series are made with commercial grade stainless steel and made to order, Lum says. Quality materials and attention to detail are the distinguishing traits for a Parade of Homes Grand Champion.

“Gentry took the time to choose products that would fit with their signature high-end home,” Lum says. “And they chose the best of our line.”