Recent studies show that the kitchen is where you'll spend most of your time. The kitchen and the bedroom, those are the top two areas of a home. In order to maximize the utility and comfort of your kitchen, you will want an island.
Back in the 1800's a kitchen was designed around utility, and not comfort. They were usually in the back of the home and definitely not a space that one wanted to spend a lot of time in. It wasn't until the 1930's, and Frank Lloyd Wright who popularized the open floor plan design and incorporated the kitchen into the major parts of the kitchen.
In the post World War 2 era the "modern" kitchen island took shape. Prior to that the most you would get is a large table in the kitchen. In the 1960's we see the design idea of the kitchen island come to front of the social consciousness with TV shows like Julia Child's The French Chef. By that time people were wanting more counter space as well as a place to relax and be in the kitchen with the chef.
This collection of house plans that feature kitchen islands is really the culmination of over 70 years of kitchen evolution. This space, like others in the home, media rooms, and home offices, are always changing. If you'd like to add to the progress of what a home means by modifying your next home. Please let us know, we can modify any plan to meet your desires.