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The green plaster, a color inspired by the palette of architect Luis Barragán, now covers the stone fireplace and hearth, extending the column up to the ceiling so there’s no longer a line chopping up the wall. “It made such an incredible difference that it goes all the way to the ceiling. It draws your eye up,” says Brooke. The new built-ins are white oak, and evoke the style of what was there before.

In a renovated California home, the double-sided fireplace anchors the first floor as a transitional element between entry, kitchen, dining room, and living room pictured. The fireplace tile was a custom designed shape by the interior designers and was manufactured locally by Fireclay Tile. The integrated bookcase and mantle were made by Kaimade Woodworking with locally sourced walnut.

A home near Rye, England, opens onto a deck through a Sunflex door. The living room features a sofa by Terence Woodgate, 620 chairs by Dieter Rams for Vitsœ, and an Oluce Atollo 239 lamp by Vico Magistretti. The wood-burning fireplace sits along one wall in the room, with a bright orange flue acting as a sculptural focal point.

Eco-friendly features like solar panels and rainwater catchments keep this retreat's environmental footprint small. Immediately to the right of the entry is the main living space, which features a Jetmaster 700D wood-burning fireplace with a tiled hearth.

Scandinavian architecture firm C.F. Møller designed a serene, zinc-clad home in Aarhus, Denmark. On the interior, a large, three-sided fireplace incorporated into a floating wall helps connect two spaces and warm up the home, and the wall also incorporates a purpose-designed niche filled with firewood for easy re-stoking.

Tigg Coll Architects took a new approach to a straightforward town house renovation and expansion in London. The home’s rear extension has its own personality, with with pivoting glass doors, sharp red support beams, and a wood-burning fireplace. The overhanging concrete plinth acts as a hearth or, as Tigg imagines it, a sort of contemporary inglenook. Wood piles neatly between the beam and wall. The fireplace, a Stovax Riva 2, is flanked by a Lampe Gras wall lamp; firewood is cleverly stored in the narrow space between the fireplace and the red support beam, creating a fun moment of practical texture in the room.

Architect George Bradley and his husband, Eddie Baba, renovated a 1941 house in San Francisco. Tiles from Heath Ceramics surround the Ortal Clear 130LS fireplace. The white ceramic logs are by Klein Reid (but of course can be replaced with real firewood!), and the firewood storage continues the same dark horizontal band that contrasts with the light-colored fireplace cladding.

The interior palette is simple, with concrete floors and plaster ceilings. The fireplace, made of stacked Roman brick, is another design move commonly seen in midcentury houses.

Living area

Nestled in the private residential estate of Les Parcs de Saint Tropez, this contemporary home was created by the London-based minimalist designer, John Pawson. Clean lines and bright white walls frame the freestanding fireplace, making for a dynamic open living space where the fireplace acts as the heart of the room.

Conservatory

Re-Imagining Space If you can imagine, this cozy, hygge-filled space was once an old drafty elevator shaft and mechanical room, according to designer Kar-Keat Chong. He hoped to re-invent a space where the employees could “break away” from the open office environment down below. This is a place that offers a more casual and comfortable zone. He said that the fireplace serves to anchor the space as a “central highlight and focal point.”

A “hidden” door to the laundry room lies along the walnut wall on one side of the hallway.

Architecture firm _naturehumaine designed a dream hideaway in eastern Quebec, complete with a centralized fireplace. The modern fireplace was built into a custom, multi-purpose cabinet welded from sheets of hot-rolled steel. It stores firewood on one end with an open shelve, holds a TV, and even acts as a guardrail for the staircase.