A NEW HAMPSHIRE SUMMER HOME WHERE INDOORS AND OUT THE CENTERS OF INTEREST ARE 
FIREPLACES—WHAT THE FIELDS AND WALLS CONTRIBUTED—AND WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAID 
Joseph Ames 
A S a matter of fact, there were eight, not counting a Franklin 
stove and the kitchen range; but the eighth was in a 
detached building known as the Study, so it really did not count. 
The very idea of so many hearth stones in a single dwelling 
seemed to disturb the rural neighbors. More often than not, 
the first explanatory comment from “native” to newcomer re¬ 
garding the house on the hill had to do with this shameful 
superabundance. 
“Open fires in every room! And I hear tell the chimneys alone 
cost all of fifteen thousand dollars!” 
Sometimes these remarks 
were adorned with flowers 
of verbiage; frequently they 
betrayed grammatical lapses. 
But always the exclamation 
points were present, accom¬ 
panied by a strong under¬ 
current of disapproval, more 
or less tolerant, as who 
should say, a fool and his 
money soon parted. 
The truth is — and it seems 
the most flagrant sort of 
anachronism — the average 
inhabitant of New England 
rural regions has small use 
for chimneys. Lie looks 
upon them as institutions to 
be kept down in number and 
reduced to strictly utilita¬ 
rian dimensions. The vast 
central stacks of his fathers, 
with its wide, deep, cluster¬ 
ing hearths, its bake-oven, 
back log, and all the other accessories of the old-time fireplace, is 
to him a drawback and a detriment, rather than a joy forever. 
Either he bricks up the openings, leaving only uninteresting stove¬ 
pipe holes, or else he reconstructs the chimney, barbarously slicing 
away two-thirds or more of its bulk and boasts of the square 
feet gained by the operation. 
There is, of course, an explanation for this point of view. The 
long, hard New England winters and the rarity of furnaces in 
farm houses combine to make for these conditions. Where rooms 
are heated by stoves open fires are unnecessary, often impractica¬ 
ble ; and with the bred-in-the- 
bone agriculturist it is gen¬ 
erally the practical alone 
that counts. From this point 
of view any man who de¬ 
liberately puts fifteen thou¬ 
sand dollars into mere chim¬ 
neys is a fool. 
It really wasn’t fifteen 
thousand, or anything like 
it. In fact, the entire house 
cost less. But the mason's 
bill happened to be some¬ 
what out of proportion for 
a frame building of that size, 
and gossip has gone on add¬ 
ing to the amount ever since, 
like a snowball gathering 
volume down-hill. 
The owner simply hap¬ 
pened to be a person who 
wanted fireplaces — wanted 
them of generous size an 3 
in ample numbers, no less 
3 2 
