Return of the Hearth
In the philosophy of Arts & Crafts, the fireplace is idealized as the centerpiece of family life: hearth and home.
At Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms, his own family’s abode, multiple fireplaces are famously clad in iridescent Grueby tiles, or feature hand-hammered copper hoods inscribed with uplifting mottoes.
Although not every builders’ bungalow got a fireplace—or at least not a fancy one—plenty of period examples survive to inspire us. The examples shown here are, however, in newer homes. As in most revivals, the best work of an era is reproduced more widely.
Today, Arts & Crafts fireplaces come in many variants: Rustic, Mission, Asian, English or Art Nouveau ...and in wood, brick, stucco, or art tile. Today’s revival fireplaces are deliberate and artful, showcasing the talent of the mason, the woodcarver, or the pottery. Fireplaces are the focus of cozy inglenooks, they warm bathers, and they showcase vases and metalwork.
The “bungalow era” of the early 20th century was the first to assure comfortable central heating as a matter of course. Then as now, these recreational fireplaces were symbolic. But they sure are a showcase for beautiful work, and a defining element of the Arts & Crafts interior.
Patricia Poore is Editor-in-chief of Old House Journal and Arts & Crafts Homes, as well as editorial director at Active Interest Media’s Home Group, overseeing New Old House, Traditional Building, and special-interest publications.
Poore joined Old House Journal when it was a Brooklyn-brownstoner newsletter in the late 1970s. She became owner and publisher and, except for the years 2002–2013, has been its editor. Poore founded the magazines Old-House Interiors (1995–2013) and Early Homes (2004–2017); their content is now available online and folded into Old-House Journal’s wider coverage. Poore also created GARBAGE magazine (1989–1994), the first unaffiliated environmental consumer magazine.
Poore has participated, hands-on, in several restorations, including her own homes: a 1911 brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and a 1904 Tudor–Shingle Style house in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she brought up her boys and their wonderful dogs.
