Although a fireplace like this one from an English castle would not be practical in today’s home… still… it is worth pondering. What is it about this room that is so visually striking and how can that be adapted to your dream home?

The benefits of having a large fireplace…

1) No need to cut your firewood up into tiny, easy-to-handle pieces.
2) No need to cut your meat up into individual servings before cooking… just cook the whole pig!
3) Imagine the heat this fireplace would give off when fully stoked!
4) Plenty of room for you and your friends to stand around the fire.

Whose got the marshmallows?

Originally posted 2015-08-24 13:05:24.

Which do you prefer?
The traditional method of gathering stone found on the property and laid in a horizontal pattern?
Or, the more modern use of stones gathered from rivers and stream beds and applied in a random pattern?

For me the answer is obvious.  The field stone chimney will stand strong for millennia without the aid of cement. But remove the cement from the river rock chimney and you’d have a pile of bowling ball shaped stones spread out across your yard.

Originally posted 2015-08-17 16:33:46.

When it comes time to build the stone fireplace in a cabin there is one major decision to be made… would you like an arch? or a single lintel stone?

Originally posted 2015-08-09 13:36:43.

For those who love log cabins and stone… HUGE stones.

Originally posted 2015-08-01 13:59:00.

Everything you need to know about how to build a nice stone arch in one photo!

I’ve always liked a “proud” keystone. One that rises a couple of inches above the other stones that make up the arch.

Originally posted 2015-07-27 14:19:57.

It’s all in the details.

Take a look at the chisel held in master mason, Dan Smith’s, hand… you can barely see it from the vibration after being struck with a stone hammer.

Dan is here shaping the tapered course of a soon to be built solid stone chimney.

Nice stone isn’t it?

Originally posted 2015-07-27 14:12:32.

We once restored a stone home in Northern Virginia… it was a mess when we began, and a beauty when we finished.

Originally posted 2015-07-18 12:22:35.

A log home without a stone chimney is like a canoe without a paddle.

Originally posted 2015-07-10 15:45:12.

Like toadstools the porch post columns pop out of the ground.

Originally posted 2015-07-10 15:04:11.

Originally posted 2015-07-09 21:28:20.