Around the world and back again
Posted on June 18th, 2007 – 11:15 PMBy Jason Hammond
I have circled the globe (via the internet) looking for cool modern fire places from almost every country in Europe as well as tons of options form Australia and a handful from the U.S. One by one I had to eliminate these options as a result of cost, building code restrictions, or fuel type, leaving me with what I felt were few options.
I decided we would use a standard clean faced style like some of the European models I had found and frame the surround with materials that made it look modern. I started looking at a few options at local and national dealers, they were all very nice but all featured faux (that’s French for false — and the limits of my multi-lingual skills) logs. I was pretty sure that we had settled on one of these as an option but then I decided to check out Energy Savers the little family run fireplace shop just a couple of blocks from my house, could it really be this easy. After hours of searching the web and dozens of local and national fireplace stores I walked in and one of the first things I saw was a clean lined fireplace, featuring stones rather than logs — The Marquis Line from Kingsman. A Canadian company who made fireplaces for other companies for years (until the mid 90’s when they introduced their own line) had now come out with a cleanview fireplace, that came with modern options like stones rather than logs. Most of the options I had found like this were quite a bit more expensive but I was surprised that it was about the same price and even more affordable than some of the faux log versions I had found. Making this find only sweeter the store Manager (and founders son) Jeff was more than helpful in explaining to me the details of the installation as well as ways that we could add to the exterior piping and chimney caps to get the cool modern look we were going for. In little more than 10 minutes I walked out with an estimate and brochure in hand — gotta love good customer service.
Here’s the fireplace as well as a the Marquis line of surrounds
that Kingsman also offers.
I love the clean look of the stones as well as the simple clean
black insides, No need for a Herringbone pattern.
7 Responses to "Around the world and back again"
Jason: is this fireplace open in the front? I love it, but worry about my 2-year-old!
No it’s not open but the glass like all gas fireplaces will get hot. There are some cool modern glass and or metal screens I’ve seen that you can use to avoid this issue, check these out as options.
http://www.blomus.com/blomus.php?l=en&a=detail&i=65145
http://www.fineliving.com/fine/personal_space_selects/text/0,1663,FINE_8071_15100,00.html
http://www.stacksandstacks.com/html/108702_bebop-firescreen.htm
I hope this helps,
Jason
Jason,
That fireplace looks awesome. But I wonder whether you have considered to install a wood burning stove instead. Although a fireplace is great for the atmosphere within a house, the warmth it produces simply goes up into the chimney, the heating effect is minimal. With a wood burning stove, on the other hand, you can heat the whole house. They are much more environmentally friendly. And they may look very cool as well, like these (upscale) examples: http://www.guenter-matten.de/ofenshow.php?oi=0.
Connie
We did look at wood burners for that very reason but I was concern about the open flames with our young children. One of the greater features of this clean face fireplace from Kingsman is that it is heater rated so it does heat the room and by adding the blower/fan it can work to heat the home. Most of the clean face fireplaces don’t have this feature.
Jason
tell me the name of the shop that you found this fireplace
Do you have any photos of real installations of this fireplace? We picked out this model at a showroom over the weekend and will install it in a corner but I’m wondering what height to put it at. Thanks
Hi Carrie,
I don’t have an image of it installed in our home yet. However I might suggest that you on my blog of other similar fireplaces for examples of where you might position it. I would suggest that you consider the room it’s being placed in as well. You may want it to be placed lower to the ground if you’re using it in a living room or slightly higher if it’s a dining room or bedroom, based on sight lines. Another thing you might find helpful is to check out some websites of architectural firms. Whatever you decide, remember there’s no right or wrong answer as long as it works for you.
Jason
