Avid home cooks are installing pot fillers in their kitchens. Image via @waterworks/Instagram.
Who would have thought that pot fillers would be the most consistently noteworthy detail in luxury homes? Over the years it’s become difficult to keep count of every celebrity who’s commented on their wall-mounted faucets during Architectural Digest’s Open Door tours. The DJ Zedd points his out in a video, stating that it was the reason he wanted to buy his $16 million house. “I’ve always wanted one of these things so I’m really excited about it,” Emma Chamberlain says while clutching hers. Amanda Seyfried, less impressed: “Honestly, I don’t know what this is.”
Traditionally mounted above the stove, with two joints that allow them to easily fold down and against the wall, the fixtures are intended to ease the process of filling large pots of water, as their name implies. According to British kitchen retailer Magnet Trade, they’re appearing more and more on television and beyond the world of entertainment, the Google search demand is up 50% for “pot filler taps” compared to this time last year. Over on TikTok, results for “pot filler” have 37.8 million views, proof that interest is more than just a celebrity fad. And plumbing brands say their own numbers prove the trend: House of Rohl and Waterworks both report seeing an uptick in sales for their pot fillers in recent years.
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While some home amenities have clear origins—like an elaborate home gym for an athlete, or a professional recording studio for a musician—the pot filler isn’t just for the would-be pro chefs among us. “Asking clients if they’d prefer a pot filler or not has definitely become a standard part of our client brief in the last five years,” says Ashley Drost of Proem Studio, which designed Chamberlain’s Beverly Hills pad. “Previously, our checklist of optional kitchen fixtures and accessories just included coordinating air switches and soap and water dispensers.” Sarah Zames of General Assembly, the studio behind Seyfried’s New York City home, tells Architectural Digest PRO that non-celeb clients have been adding them to their kitchen wish lists.
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“When you are already redoing all of the plumbing, adding a pot filler is an easy change to make and feels like a bonus in functionality,” Zames tells Architectural Digest PRO. This positioning of the pot filler as a fun cherry-on-top add-on for kitchen renos rings true in those Open Door videos too. “When I was building the house they were like, ‘Do you want a pot filler?’ and I was like ‘No, I don’t need a pot filler,’ but now I use it everyday because I’m a tea addict,” Kendall Jenner states during her own video with Architectural Digest.
While novelty might be part of the initial appeal of the fixture, the utility they bear out seems to keep them in regular use. “We installed a Kohler pot-filler from the Artifacts collection. This is the first time I’ve ever had a pot filler,” says designer Justina Blakeney, who pointed out her own during Architectural Digest’s tour of her home. “While at first I really just wanted it for the looks, I’ve been surprised with how much I’ve used it—especially since our sink is far from the stove. It’s a great design detail that is also functional.”
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Uses extend beyond filling up pots of water and tea kettles. “My favorite non-traditional application is a low installation designed to fill water bowls for furry family members with ease,” says Deanna Amorello, senior product director of fittings at Waterworks. A spokesperson from House of Rohl points out that another popular use is watering houseplants or filling vases that don’t fit under the sink.
On aesthetics alone, the fixtures have the potential to contribute something of value to a space. As Drost notes, “In the right design, a pot filler can really push a design narrative forward. For instance, in a family home with lots of details and layers, a pot filler completes the picture of a busy, efficient kitchen.” On top of it all, it’s hard to deny that they’re also pulling their weight as conversation starters.
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