Fireplace

“ With wonderful tones he whistles and screams down the chimney and into the fireplace. The fire crackles and flares up, and shines far into the room, and the little place is warm and snug, and it is pleasant to sit there listening to the sounds. Let the wind speak, for he knows plenty of stories and fairy tales, many more than are known to any of us. ”

“ It is a vulgar notion that a fire is only for heat. A chief value of it is, however, to look at. It is a picture, framed between the jambs. You have nothing on your walls, by the best masters (the poor masters are not, however, represented) , that is really so fascinating, so spiritual. Speaking like an upholsterer, it furnishes the room. And it is never twice the same. In this respect it is like the landscape-view through a window, always seen in a new light, color, or condition. The fireplace is a window into the most charming world I ever had a glimpse of. ”

“ There were books and newspapers on the table, the fireplace was half-full of the ashes of a burnt-out fire, there were faded flowers in a tall vase near the window, there was the undefinable presence of life in the heavier and warmer air. ”

“ Thus, the living-room fireplace is broad enough to shed its genial warmth into a dozen faces, and yet, with its old-fashioned crane and its big wrought-iron fire-dogs and its stingy little shelf above, it still preserves Colonial traditions. ”

“ The fireplace, as we said, is a window through which we look out upon other scenes. We like to read of the small, bare room, with cobwebbed ceiling and narrow window, in which the poor child of genius sits with his magical pen, the master of a realm of beauty and enchantment. I think the open fire does not kindle the imagination so much as it awakens the memory; one sees the past in its crumbling embers and ashy grayness, rather than the future. ”

“ His eyes and every tense instinct of the man were concentrated on the fireplace. The red light of the embers was in the room. I could see him clearly, and the table beyond him with the calculations; but the fireplace seemed strangely out of perspective—it extended above me.
“My gift to the Master, not more than four handbreadths in height, including the base, stood now like an immense bronze on an extended marble slab beside a gigantic fireplace. This effect of extension put the top of the fireplace and the enlarged andiron, above its pedestal, out of my line of vision. ”

“ Standing upon the loose earth, you may see the blackened fireplace far above your head, before which fair faces grew rosy centuries ago, and where white hands were outspread that have been dust and mould for ages. ”

“ Thick crimson curtains descend in heavy folds over the embrasures of the windows, and the ample hearth and wide fireplace speak of the customs of the good old times, ere that gloomy, unpoetic, unsocial gnome—the air-tight—had monopolized the place of the blazing fireside. ”

“ The ponderous mantel-piece, likewise of carved oak, towers high towards the dusky ceiling, and extends its mighty breadth to take in a vast area of hearth, the arch of the fireplace being positively so immense that I could compare it to nothing but the city gateway. ”

“ On the hearth-rug, before a large tapestry fire-screen, which masked the wide fireplace, built in imitation of the big, wide fireplaces of our ancestors, and rose to the level of the chimney-piece-a magnificent chimney-piece in carved oak-were some chairs tied together ready to be removed. ”

“ More than the light of day, from dazzling chandeliers or the magic tongues of flaming gas-burners, blazes through the halls of modern luxury and splendor; but the lights and shadows from a glowing, old-fashioned, New-England country fireplace created a scene as enlivening, exhilarating, and genial as has ever been witnessed, and cannot be surpassed. Assembled neighbors in a single evening accomplished what would have been the work of a family for months. ”

“ The only light in the room is that which proceeds from an immense fireplace, where nearly a common cart-load of wood is burning, and hissing, and crackling at its own free will, so that the remotest corners are made cheerful by the crimson glow. ”

“ Coming to the dining-room, one finds a great fireplace, never changed since the olden day when the house was built, immense fire-dogs, big bellows, tongs, and shovel, made in a primitive blacksmith's shop. Many a distinguished guest has chatted and laughed by its crackling fire, many a merry group surrounded it. ”

“ As you enter, the whole interior seems dark—everything, at first, indistinct, and the only light being directly above and below the smoke-hole in the roof, for a blanket is dropped as a portière over the doorway the moment you pass within. In the centre of this gloomy interior, directly beneath a hole in the roof, is the fireplace, upon which logs are smouldering or fitfully blazing; kettles of stewing fish, and oil and berries simmering under the care of some squatty, grimy squaws who surround it. ”

“ Nothing is so beautiful as springing, changing flame,—it was the last freak of the Gothic architecture men to represent the fronts of elaborate edifices of stone as on fire, by the kindling flamboyant devices. A fireplace is, besides, a private laboratory, where one can witness the most brilliant chemical experiments, minor conflagrations only wanting the grandeur of cities on fire. It is a vulgar notion that a fire is only for heat. ”

“ The fireplace was opposite the central window, and the room had been handsomely furnished forty years before, and bore that air of continuance and use which in itself gives a charm to all human habitations. ”

“ This is a fallacy that the architect and fireplace builder find it hard to dispel. There is no objection whatever to a large fireplace in a summer camp or informal shack of that sort. In fact a small one would in such a place be ridiculous, but when we come to our year-round living-room or dining-room or den, where the walls of the room are tight and the whole atmosphere quieter and more restrained, a large fireplace would be distinctly a disturbing element. ”

“ In the wall to our right is the immense fireplace, with its huge spit like a baby crane, and a collection of old iron and brass instruments which pass as the original furniture of the fire, though as a matter of fact they have been picked up from time to time by the Bishop at secondhand shops. ”

“ Chuck them in the fireplace, Ted. We'll have a fire there some day, and burn up all the trash. An open fireplace covers a multitude of sins. By the way, girls, that is another perfectly lovely way of spending our time. ”

“ The open fireplace, however, has its place as an auxiliary to the heating plant and for the hominess that a burning fire imparts to the room. If one is to be provided, the essentials of construction should be understood and followed so that it will not smoke. ”

“ There are no windows, and the fireplace is generally constructed in such a manner that the smoke of the fire, which a cold and weary traveller causes to be kindled, seeks an exit through the door in preference to going up the chimney. ”

“ The fireplace was the center of the home, the one source of heat, the one place for cooking and often the one source of light at night. Many pioneers and their families had to do all their reading on long winter evenings by the light of the open fire. ”

“ The large fireplace, once the scene of all family cooking, generally has an opening into the chimney so large that there seems to be but one practical way to treat it. This is the use of the time-tried fire board which fits tightly into the opening of mantel and shuts off the fireplace completely. This causes much lamentation each winter in our own household, as the picturesque effect of the fine old fireplace with swinging crane is blotted out by a none too ornamental expanse of board. ”

“ Too many home-builders have instructed their architects to provide a fireplace or two in the fond hope that the matter was then practically closed—a mere matter of time until they might be sitting before the fire’s cheerful glow. Too frequently the result has been a disappointment when the first few trials introduced into the room more smoke than heat or cheer. The reason for this is that there is a scientific basis for fireplace building which is frequently ignored absolutely by an over-confident and stupid mason. ”

“ In general, with these summer shacks or bungalows, the fireplace is the chief architectural feature of the living-room and for that reason will stand a moderate amount of embellishment, but this latter should take the form of a slightly better finish of the materials used throughout the room rather than the introduction of more elaborate and costly ones. ”

“ By far the best mode, in my opinion, is to introduce the air below the hearth, and carry it thence through warming-chambers at the back or sides of the grate, and allow it to issue into the room above the fire-place, or from the outer sides from the chimney-piece, so that it must ascend and mix with the air in the room before it finds its ultimate exit by the fireplace or outlet-flue. In fact, the fireplace itself should be the fountain of warmed fresh air to an apartment, since no draught thence can be annoying to any of the inmates of the room. ”

“ The fireplace consists of a wooden frame about four feet square and six inches deep, filled with earth or sand. On this is placed a light iron tripod, or what equally serves the purpose, three pieces of brick or stone to rest the pot on when the fire is kindled. In the dry season cooking is carried on in the garden, but in the rains in a compartment of the house, the smoke finding its way out through the door, windows, interstices in the mat walls, and through the roof. ”

“ The chamber was especially distinguished by its fireplace and chimney. The form of the mediæval fireplace is well-known from the numerous examples still remaining in the chambers of our old castles and mansion houses. The fire was made on the hearth, upon iron dogs, which had often very ornamental forms. The old romances frequently represent people sitting round the chamber fireplace to hold private conversation. ”

“ There was a big fireplace on one side of [Pg 26] the room, and the walls were ceiled, or paneled, with pine boards. On one side of the fireplace was a broad wooden settle, covered with a number of fur robes, and several big cushions. ”

“ It seems natural to inquire into the origin of the need of a fireplace, and to do so we must go back to prehistoric times and trace the discovery of fire-making apparatus, for without the means of lighting a fire it is obvious that the grate would be useless. ”

“ It opens against the sloping ground so that wood may be carried or rolled in or that the huge back log—the foundation for the fire—may be drawn in by a horse for the great wide fireplace which fills up one end of the single room—the "fire room"—the general living room. ”

“ CONSTRUCTION The chief difficulty in attaining a successful fireplace design does not lie in securing an abundant draft. In fact it is an easy matter to make a fireplace draw if the flue is large enough and the opening from the fire chamber into the flue unobstructed. There will never be any question of getting a roaring blaze the moment the fire is lighted. ”

“ When you came in from the street on a winter day and wanted to warm yourself, you would go up to a great open fireplace and sit up in the corner of it, close to where the great logs of wood were burning. ”

“ Fireplace Construction.—An open fireplace where wood can be used as fuel is a great source of satisfaction and pleasure, as well as a comfort, in country homes. Wood of proper length for fireplace burning can be readily secured in the country and there is ample room for storing it. Where the house is small in size, such wood fires can be used for heating the house satisfactorily in spring and fall and can be used to supplement other types of heating when desired.
No country home can be considered complete without a fireplace. ”

“ Numerous instances, however, remain of fireplaces and chimneys of the fourteenth century, even in the hall, though they were more usual in the smaller apartments. In the hall at Meare, in Somersetshire, the fireplace had a hood of stone, perfect, finely corbelled out; and by the side of the fireplace is a bracket for a light, ornamented with foliage. ”

“ If yours is a period room it is possible to get andirons to match, veritable old ones, by paying for them. The attractiveness of a fireplace depends largely upon its proportions. To look well it should always be wider than high, and deep enough to insure that the smoke goes up the chimney, and not out into your room. If your fireplace smokes you may need a special flue, leading from fireplace to proper chimney top, or a brass hood put on front of the fireplace. ”

“ Fasten a chimney-board against the fireplace, so as to prevent foul air from escaping in the night. You will, of course, have no hole through the wall into the chimney; and no sane man, in the night season, would have a door or window open. ”

“ Few apartments have fireplaces, and if you are fortunate enough to find one with a real fireplace and a simple mantel shelf you will be far on the way toward making a home of your group of rooms. Of course your apartment is heated by steam, or hot air, or something, but an open fire of coal or wood will be very pleasant on chilly days, and more important still your home will have a point of departure—the Hearth. ”

“ Coal having taken the place of logs, the hearth has been reduced and the grate has supplanted the dogs or andirons, and the gaping fireplace is closed in.
I know an old Elizabethan mansion where the chimney-stack containing three flues descends into the hall and has in it three fireplaces, so that simultaneously three fires could burn in the same room, and the family circle could fold about the three hearths combined into one in an almost complete circle. ”