30

THE MODERN COLONIAL TYPE WITH BRICK FACING AND
WHITE WOOD MANTEL 38

A CRAFTSMAN TYPE IN BRICK WITH COPPER HOOD 46

A RECESSED FIREPLACE IN BRICK AND ROUGH PLASTER 50

INTRODUCTION

In a book of this kind there is no particular need for dwelling at
length on the desirability of having a fireplace. That will be taken for
granted. It is enough to say that in these days a home can scarcely be
considered worthy of the name if it does not contain at least one
hearth. There is some inexplicable quality in a wood fire that exerts
almost a hypnotic influence upon those who eagerly gather about it. The
smoldering glow of the logs induces a calm and introspective mood that
banishes all the trivialities and distractions of the day's work and
gives one an opportunity to replenish his store of energy for the coming
day.

The open fire, unlike most of the comforts that we demand in a modern
home, has been associated with the race as far back almost as the home
itself. At first, of course, it was as a necessity and the development
from that to a luxury has been an exceedingly slow one extending over
the years down to the present time.

There are two forms of the open fire--a possible third one, the gas log,
being a subject on which the less said the better. We have, therefore, a
choice between the open fireplace designed for wood and the basket grate
in which to burn coal, preferably cannel coal. This latter fuel is not
nearly so well known in this country as in England where the scarcity of
wood necessarily makes coal the more commonly used fuel. With our own
abundance of wood, however, there will perhaps be little hesitancy in
choosing the open fireplace rather than the basket grate for coal,
although in certain cases, for example an apartment where the flue has
been built too small, or in a house where an available chimney offers
only a small flue area for fireplace use, the basket grate will prove a
welcome solution of the problem. Of course there is no excuse whatever
for building a modern home with a chimney too small for the sort of
fireplace you want, but where the chimney has already been built without
this provision it may possibly be found that a small terra cotta flue
lining may be inserted in the larger flue without seriously damaging the
latter's power of draft. In that event the addition of a ba