A fire crackles in a gray family room in a townhouse designed by Mary Douglas Drysdale.

A fire crackles in a gray family room in a townhouse designed by Mary Douglas Drysdale.

There’s no substitute for a real fireplace

  • By Jura Koncius The Washington Post
  • Tuesday, February 9, 2016 12:46pm
  • Life

Imagine the coziest spot to watch a movie: a cushy long sofa, a table of snacks, a well-stocked bar, a giant TV and a crackling fireplace with real wood burning, providing a woodsy scent and a warm glow.

“When people imagine their dream family room, they think of a fireplace being a major part of it. said Anthony “Ankie” Barnes, a partner in Barnes Vanze Architects in Washington, D.C. “It’s a gathering and centering visual element.”

Fireplaces are an essential part of many American homes. They serve as a backdrop for family holiday photos; their mantels are an altar for treasured talismans. In new construction in 2014, 51 percent of new single-family houses had one or more fireplaces, according to the census.

Wood-burning or gas? That’s the hot question.

“Homeowners are divided into two camps. Those that like to make real fires and those who just like to turn on the gas,” Barnes said.

Although some consumers think making a real fire is too much work or too messy, I’m one of those people who thinks that if you’re lucky enough to have a real indoor fireplace, you should use it as it was intended.

Learning how to build a fire, stacking logs and foraging for kindling was part of my upbringing in New England. During Washington’s Snowzilla, we had stockpiled enough wood to have fires every wintry day, which made our 1937 house seem cozy, safe and extra warm.

I’ve watched as a number of friends lost interest in buying cords of wood and hauling it all in. Some have let their fireplace sit idle, filling it with candles (the dreaded “firelabra”), plants or a studied display of birch logs. Others have switched to gas, citing the ease factor and concerns about air pollutants or allergies.

For me, gas fires are like fake plants or fake fruit. They are fake.

Architects and designers say most clients are set on having a fireplace, but they aren’t always willing to put in the work, between cleaning out the ashes and having the chimney regularly inspected. “It seems that most people want to believe they want wood-burning fireplaces, but they invariably default to gas when they realize how little the wood-burning fireplace would be used and how much work it is to build a fire,” Washington architect Christian Zapatka wrote in an email. “A number of wood-burning fireplaces have gas igniters, which helps.”

Romance can be a factor. “A wood-burning fireplace can be looked at as a romantic novelty, right as it sucks the heat up the chimney,” says Jim Rill of Rill Architects in Bethesda, Md. “But a nice big warm fire has a good ambiance to it and is much more attractive than a gas fireplace.”

For Washington designer Mary Douglas Drysdale, fireplaces have a lot of style importance; seating is often built around them, and they become the focal point of a room, whether they are sleek and modern or traditional. But wood-burning fireplaces bring back warm memories of childhood. “There’s a lot of emotion around fireplaces,” Drysdale said. “I learned how to make a fire as a child, and we used to sit around it and drink hot cocoa and tell stories. Even today, I enjoy the ritual of making the fire; you don’t just flip on a switch like a TV. The art of building a fire is more like writing. It’s slower and more thoughtful.”

Erica Burns, a Bethesda, Maryland, designer, says that she has seen an increasing interest in old-fashioned, wood-burning fireplaces. “Gas fireplaces seemed to have been big over the last 10 or 20 years. But the crackle, the smell, of burning real wood reminds people of what they had growing up,” Burns says.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

What’s Up columnist Andrea Brown with a selection of black and white glossy promotional photos on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Free celeb photos! Dig into The Herald’s Hollywood time capsule

John Wayne, Travolta, Golden Girls and hundreds more B&W glossies are up for grabs at August pop-up.

Rodney Ho / Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Tribune News Service
The Barenaked Ladies play Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville on Friday.
Coming events in Snohomish County

Send calendar submissions for print and online to features@heraldnet.com. To ensure your… Continue reading

Edmonds announces summer concert lineup

The Edmonds Arts Commission is hosting 20 shows from July 8 to Aug. 24, featuring a range of music styles from across the Puget Sound region.

Big Bend Photo Provided By Ford Media
2025 Ford Bronco Sport Big Bend Increases Off-Road Capability

Mountain Loop Highway Was No Match For Bronco

Cascadia College Earth and Environmental Sciences Professor Midori Sakura looks in the surrounding trees for wildlife at the North Creek Wetlands on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 in Bothell, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Cascadia College ecology students teach about the importance of wetlands

To wrap up the term, students took family and friends on a guided tour of the North Creek wetlands.

Mustang Convertible Photo Provided By Ford Media Center
Ford’s 2024 Ford Mustang Convertible Revives The Past

Iconic Sports Car Re-Introduced To Wow Masses

Kim Crane talks about a handful of origami items on display inside her showroom on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Crease is the word: Origami fans flock to online paper store

Kim’s Crane in Snohomish has been supplying paper crafters with paper, books and kits since 1995.

The 2025 Nissan Murano midsize SUV has two rows of seats and a five-passenger capacity. (Photo provided by Nissan)
2025 Nissan Murano is a whole new machine

A total redesign introduces the fourth generation of this elegant midsize SUV.

A woman flips through a book at the Good Cheer Thrift Store in Langley. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Pop some tags at Good Cheer Thrift Store in Langley

$20 buys an outfit, a unicycle — or a little Macklemore magic. Sales support the food bank.

The Mukilteo Boulevard Homer on Monday, May 12, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Homer Hedge’: A Simpsons meme takes root in Everett — D’oh!

Homer has been lurking in the bushes on West Mukilteo Boulevard since 2023. Stop by for a selfie.

Sarah and Cole Rinehardt, owners of In The Shadow Brewing, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 in Arlington, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In The Shadow Brewing: From backyard brews to downtown cheers

Everything seems to have fallen into place at the new taproom location in downtown Arlington

Bar manager Faith Britton pours a beer for a customer at the Madison Avenue Pub in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burgers, brews and blues: Madison Avenue Pub has it all

Enjoy half-price burgers on Tuesday, prime rib specials and live music at the Everett mainstay.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.