Star Kitchen: David Burtka

Over the years, David Burtka’s 1887 Harlem brownstone has been an orphanage, a music school, a bed-and-breakfast and a speakeasy. “The history on this block is insane,” he says. When David and his husband, actor Neil Patrick Harris, moved in three years ago, the house was in great shape. “But we still wanted to put our stamp on it,” says David, an entertaining expert who hosted the Food Network special Life’s a Party. Personalizing the place called for a major kitchen renovation: David and Neil doubled the size, added a television (an essential, they’ve found, when hosting friends for the Super Bowl or the Oscars) and created an island with wraparound seating. The setup is perfect for when Neil and their twins, Gideon and Harper, 6, hang out while David preps dinner. The couple picked out every element of the kitchen themselves, including the slab of marble used as the backsplash. Together they make a great design team. “I’m very emotional, he’s very analytical, so we work really well that way,” David says.

The couple had a Sub-Zero Pro 48 in their L.A. home, and David made sure they got another one when they moved to Harlem. It holds lots of food — and the glass door lets him take a quick inventory of what’s on hand.

The key to an efficient kitchen is the triangle from the fridge to the sink to the stove, David explains. Here, all three spots are within steps, “which makes my life so much easier.”

When David and Neil got married in 2014, their wedding planner decorated the event space with brass accessories that are now scattered throughout their home.

The lighting was a big discussion: Neil wanted one big pendant and David wanted a few smaller ones. They compromised by choosing five Holly Hunt fixtures and clustering them together.

The white border on the charcoal cabinets is a small detail that has a ton of impact. “That’s artistic work, having to do a tiny trim around those,” David says.