Fireplace

[Anonymous]

We live in a really old home- almost 100 years old. It has a chimney, and the brick surround of the chimney is visible and backs to our living room- at a place where it would be perfect to have a fireplace. But oddly enough, there is no fireplace. I'm certain that the chimney was built for practical reasons and there must have been a fireplace or hearth of some sort at one time. But none now-- weird.

I'd love a fireplace mantel for aesthethic reasons- Christmastime, and just as a focal point in the living room. I don't care to light a fire, and I don't care for the gas fireplaces you can turn on with a switch. Would it be odd just to get a mantel, and place a plant in front of it, or a candle-holder setup? I'm thinking to get a contractor to just hollow out part of the wall to make the mantel/fireplace area look like it was always there?

[Anonymous]

Do you have a basement? We live in an old house, and there is a fireplace in our living room, but below it in our unfinished the basement is another one that uses the same flue. I think it may have originally been the kitchen. If the chimney is open on the top, you could go up and look down, and see what's down there.

I don't think it would look too odd to install a mantel, or a shelf at mantel height. However, they make "flueless" gas logs now, I think. Presumably the chimney is hollow, so it probably wouldn't be too hard to hollow out a "fireplace" and put in gas logs or some such. I've not been a fan of gas logs, but I've seen some nicer ones lately. I can tell you that putting an old chimney in working order for wood burning can be quite expensive (I think the estimate for a liner, etc for our chimney was $5,000). We decided we really didn't like fires that much.

[Anonymous]

I think it would look fine. Rather than a plant, you might consider a "summer cover" or a decorative screen (that isn't see-through). But a plant is fine too or even a piece of furniture.

[Anonymous]

Can you actually see the chimney in your living room, or just outside the house? I ask because our 1940 house also has a chimney, which runs to the basement, but no fireplace. It never had a fireplace or hearth. Turns out the chimney is for ventilation and heating. Very disappointing to DH who longs for a fireplace (though he wants to toast marshmallows in it).