Vintage Retro Freestanding Cone Fireplaces for Décor and Heating

Vintage Retro Freestanding Cone Fireplaces for Décor and Heating

Fireplaces have been around for eons in one form or another. Fireplace is defined as an architectural configuration that has been built to hold a fire. Fires in fireplaces are built for heating, particularly in decades gone by and for cooking. Only recently, since the advent of central heating, have fireplaces also taken on the role of aesthetics or a means of pleasure.

Fireplaces typically contain a firebox or fire pit, a chimney or flue for ensuring the gas and particulates created by a burning fire have a safe place to escape. In the past, fireplaces were the central feature in a home, families gathered around the fireplace for warmth, to read at night, before electricity was common, and to cook.

During the 1950s, after World War II, there was a drastic change in the design of fireplaces. All of a sudden fireplaces were freestanding and not built into the structure of the home. Further, there was a generation of fireplaces that were not made of heavy cast iron, but rather lighter weight metal. This new genre of fireplaces became known as freestanding cone fireplaces and were often built like an upside down funnel.

Mid century modern designers, of the post-war era, experimented with lots of designs of freestanding fireplaces as well as lots of colors. No longer was a fireplace made of brick and mortar or cast iron. They began being made in many colors such as: red, orange, green, blue, white, purple, brown and more. There were all shades and hues of these colors.

Some designers also experimented with the shape of freestanding fireplaces. They designed round, square and rectangular and octagonal fireplaces. Some fireplaces hung from the ceiling by chains. Others had 3 legs and some had 4. Some had skirts that hid the legs of the fireplace and some had a pedestal instead of legs. Some fireplaces sat on the hearth and had no legs. There seemed to be no limit about the variety of styles, and features related to freestanding fireplaces.

If you are a mid century modern era buff, you know the designers working after the war threw out the old rule book on everything. What buildings, churches, homes and furniture looked like and were to be made of was wide open for experimentation. This is why it is difficult to really catalog all of the different kinds and styles of freestanding fireplaces built during this era.

If you are interested in adding a freestanding fireplace to your home, there are a couple of things for you to take into consideration.

1. Check on the local codes for fireplace installation. Even though there is some information about installation available on these vintage fireplaces, it is out of date. Call a local fire department, fireplace supplier or chimney sweep to learn what the current code restrictions are for installation.

2. To maintain optimal efficiency, keep your fireplace clean. Be sure to clean the inside of the canopy, or funnel, of the fireplace too, not just the floor. Using a mild detergent for this cleaning is appropriate and effective.

3. Always, always, connect the fireplace to a chimney or vent to the outside. Never set it up in a room without this connection to the out-of-doors in place. Never vent the fireplace to another room. The ventilation must be to the outdoors.

4. Set up a regular maintenance and service routine. You can keep up the maintenance yourself if you know how or you can call a chimney sweep for an annual inspection and cleaning just to be safe.

Owning a retro, vintage, mid century modern fireplace adds an atomic-age look to a home and screams COOL!