Even in nicer houses in the US, they’ll have a range hood but no intake air! And then I’ll hear neighbors complaining about it not working well because nobody tells you that if you don’t have make-up air, you also need to open a window for it to work well.

I think that's because people don't cook as much as they used to. And when they do it's rarely proper cooking and more assembly of prepared stuff, often just reheating.

In France too, most kitchen are optimized for looks with an island and fully opened to the living room. If you use noisy equipment, it makes both places uncomfortable. But I think that's the point, it doesn't happen that often.

There are not a whole lot of people who actually cook anymore and those who do deal with the annoyance or have their house choice influenced by that requirement.

I think complex home cooking is a vestige of the time when there were middle class housewives with a lot of time to actually do that. Nowadays with both parents working, cooking has been relegated to an activity that has to be fast, easy and efficient; which is why those multifunction cooking appliances are so popular. You never get something great out of it but it works decently enough to have the person responsible take care of some other errands simultaneously.

I have plenty of million dollar plus houses around me selling without any exhaust at all, just a cooktop on an island in the middle of the kitchen, and most of the times it is a gas cooktop! And in 80% of the houses, it's just a shitty microwave exhaust above the range.

So right off the bat, you're down $20k at least to remodel the kitchen so it has proper ventilation, assuming you cook.

Forget the health effects and whatnot, but are people not bothered by cooking smells pervading the house?