Hearth and Home

This wood burning fireplace is the focal point of a screened porch that functions as an outdoor living room. (See more from this project, “Pier Avenue Zero Energy Ready Home.”)

The snow this winter and recent cold snaps have gotten us thinking about all things cozy, and the idea of a hearth as the heart of a home. 

Fire is a powerful symbol of comfort, security, and home. That’s why even here on the Gulf Coast, people still long for traditional fireplaces. Our attraction to the hearth is likely written in our genes, integrated into our biology through thousands of years of evolution. Interestingly, “hearth” also contains the words “earth,” “art,” and “heart,” which all complement each other beautifully.

As an architect, I have struggled with how best to design an appropriate hearth for the hot, humid climate of the Gulf Coast. Watershed’s design practice is rooted in biophilia. We study our clients as if they are animals and we are Jane Goodall, taking notes on their behaviors. Our goal is not to design buildings, but to design habitats. And throughout most of human evolution, our habitats have included hearths. 

But here’s the rub. A fireplace, unlike a window, is a big hole in the building envelope. It’s a place where hot air and humidity can flow inside, and heated air can flow outside. An open fireplace also introduces hazardous byproducts of combustion to our critical breathing zones. If we want to create healthy, energy-efficient homes, an open fireplace is a challenge.

So how to reconcile the fireplace as an energy hog and pollution source with the deep-rooted need for a hearth? To begin with, we don’t have to keep designing copies of historic fireplaces from cold climates and another era. We can reimagine the hearth to suit both our deep-rooted needs for gathering, comfort, and contemplation, and our modern lifestyle and climate.

Inside the house, there are many new options for sealed fireplaces – either gas or wood burning – that don’t carry the energy penalty, or create the environmental hazards, of an open fireplace.

This efficient fireplace has a thermostat and will run until it warms the living room to a set temperature. It faces a traditional wood burning fireplace on a screened porch left of frame. (See more from this project, “Fortified Gold and Zero Energy Ready Home.”)

A linear fireplace is a great choice for a modern hearth. The horizontal lines and steel surround of this efficient sealed fireplace ground it visually against the soaring ceilings and light wood. The clean lines concentrate the hearth to its essential elements, bright flames glowing against against the dark. (See more from this project, “Petite Charbon.”)

One easy solution is to use a sealed combustion fireplace, like the ones pictured above. It provides radiant heat and a fire to gather ‘round, but it’s enclosed by a nearly invisible pane of glass. The heat radiates out into the room, but drafts and hazardous smoke are kept out.

But even with the best fireplace, the number of days when the weather invites its use are limited. It helps, then, to have a fireplace that works as an artistic design element in the home regardless of the weather.

See more from this project, “The Simple Life.”

The beautiful fireplace above is the central focal point of the living room. The skylight washes the steel plate with daylight so that the sun animates the hearth even when the fireplace is not in use. A grilling porch off to the right is where the owners gather around a flame for most of the year.

See more from this project, “Art Collectors’ Cottage.”

Our kitchens are also a kind of hearth, with the design of a cooktop, kitchen hood and backsplash reinforcing the archetypal sense of gathering around a fire. The above cooktop, nestled between cabinets and anchored by a tile backsplash, has a strong sense of a hearth, even though the modern convection cooktop has no flame.

A generous island with seating provides the opportunity to gather ‘round the hearth, as shown in both of the above images. The hearth, of course, is a kind of microcosm of the sun, the great fire that makes all life possible. The light of the setting sun is very similar to firelight, and it fills the same ingrained human need. The bayfront kitchen below, painted with the sunset, has all the coziness of an open fire.

See more from this project, “Moonshine.”

If nothing but an actual fire will do, a great option for our coastal climate is to move the open flame outdoors. An outdoor hearth can take the form of a fire pit, an outdoor fireplace, or even a well-designed grill. It should provide comfortable room to gather around, and it should be positioned so that it can be viewed from inside. Its positioning should also encourage easy flow between the indoors and outdoors.

This fire pit faces west over Mobile Bay, and both the fire pit and sunset are visible from every living space in the house. (See more from this project, “Moonshine.”)

As we look for new and different ways ways to bring the deep comfort of a hearth into our Gulf Coast homes and landscapes, our definition of hearth will continue to expand. When we try to pin down the essential elements of a hearth, we find people are drawn to fire, yes, and that’s important. But more importantly, a hearth is a symbol of warmth, of connection. It can be a place to gather, roast marshmallows, or prepare food. A hearth can also be a place of quiet contemplation, gazing into dancing flames, or quietly watching the sun sink over the horizon.

In this hot humid climate, the comfort of the hearth can be found, not just under the mantle, but in our kitchens, our porches, and our yards, like a movable feast that changes with the seasons.

This yard has both a fire pit for chilly evenings and a swing under a shady oak to watch the sunset on warm nights.