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HEART AND SOUL - The heart and soul of any self-respecting kitchen devoted to the culinary arts is without doubt the stove. The stove must of course be aesthetically pleasing and must play its full part in the decoration of this important living space. But it must also incorporate the finest cooking qualities so that the cook can express himself or herself with all the brio of a top-class chef. As it happens, a high-performance and timeless-aesthetic approach to stoves was adopted in the factories of Lacanche, a tiny village in the hills above Beaune, where the famous stoves bearing the village's name are manufactured. The factory site dates back to an 18th century Burgundian gentleman by the name of Richard de Curtil, who decided to put the iron contained in his subsoil to good use by creating an iron foundry at Lacanche. In 1796, Jacques-Etienne Caumartin took control of the ironworks and the company remained in the hands of the Coste-Caumartin family until 1972. The Lacanche Ironworks was dedicated to manufacturing stoves for stately homes and the professional trade. But a period of diversification began in the 1970s with the acquisition of the site by a corporate subsidiary of the Valéo Company. When Valéo withdrew in 1981, the 228 factory workers found themselves without an employer. FAMILY AND COMMUNITY - Thus were born the Lacanche stoves, now to be seen gracing the pages of many a home decoration magazine. The company today employs over 200 persons and the family and rural tradition which characterized the Lacanche factory for more than 200 years is once more in evidence: André Augagneur is ably supported by his wife, his two sons and his son-in-law. This family and community philosophy is reflected in the very concept of Lacanche stoves, all closely identified with the reality of local life and proudly bearing such regional village names such as Cormatin, Cluny, Chambertin, Beaune, etc.

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