Fireplace: noun| fire-place: a specially built place in a room where a fire can be built; hearth.
Hearth: noun: the floor in front of or inside a fireplace; home; a vital or creative center.
Fireplaces have been an important centerpiece of cultures and family life, starting with the origins of fire. Aside from the vital functions of enabling cooking and providing warmth, fireplaces perhaps served an even more important function for cultures, tribes and families: serving as a gathering place or location where people come together in a place of warmth.
One of the most wonderful sights and smells of fall, as the air turns crisp, is a burning fire in the indoor or outdoor fireplace you’ve created in your luxury dream home. Don’t let that beautiful masterpiece stand dormant or unused and certainly don’t save the ceremony of building a fire for a special evening or having guests to appreciate. As the weather accommodates, let building a fire and the warmth and spirit it embodies become a ritual for you to enjoy with your family on a regular basis.
The romantic nature of a custom lake home evokes harmony with nature, possessing a magical charm associated with the bygone era of a rustic way of life, even in the backdrop of a busy schedule with a modern family. Lighting a fire invites warmth and company, a moment to pause and reflect, to appreciate your home and gather together. Whether you have already built your lake country home or are in the process of working with your custom homebuilder, consider how to maximize the usage of such a simple yet often underutilized accessory.
A few key things to consider when building are: where do you generally gather as a family? How do you typically like to entertain your friends? More specifically, what rooms or space would you tend to entertain in, and would they differ from perhaps a more intimate family room, den, or even bedroom spaces where you might have the opportunity to create a warm family environment around a fire? While nearly everyone appreciates and enjoys the mood evoked by a fireplace, oftentimes its rightful placement may elude even the most seasoned luxury homeowner.
Considering family lifestyle is a wonderful first step. Many families tend to congregate around the kitchen area, not only for meals, but also for homework, games, conversation, etc in a lake country home. Perhaps the plans for your luxury custom home accommodate dining room and/or living room locations in addition to the communal kitchen in the design, as well as the master bedroom. If you are enjoying the lake lifestyle as well, take advantage of an outdoor fireplace that would be multifunctional, for cooking and for enjoying the evenings outdoors in such a serene setting.
Giving careful consideration and being strategic about your fireplace location(s) in a lake country home allows you to maximize opportunities for warm gatherings, with family, friends, or solitary enjoyment. As the fireplace should take its rightful place as the focal point of a gathering space, when building or remodeling your dream home, consult your custom home builder on the variety of stones, tiles and materials available to make it a masterpiece. The speed of daily life, propelled by the immediacy and demands of technology, has the average American overscheduled and over-caffeinated. Let your living space create a tonic to combat daily stress, inviting a healthy pause. In the words of George Adams, “I shall try to make my life like an open fireplace, so that people may be warmed and cheered by it, and so go out themselves to warm and cheer.”
Take a moment to get inspired: look at some of Colby Construction’s favorite fireplaces here and below.
