Many of the rustic stone fireplace designs created today were inspiredby the picturesque and romantic architectural style of the AdirondackMountain re- gion in upstate New York between 1870-1930 . . . . .
The
Adirondack Style,
as it came to be known, uti- lized rustic hand-hewn logs and tree branches --
often in their natural state -- in both structural and decorative ways.
Monumental fireplaces were skillfully crafted from rugged stones and
boul- ders gathered on site.
During the latter 19th and early 20th centuries, the Adirondacks became
a fashionable summer retreat and at- tracted some of America's wealthiest
families. Sprawling compounds, called
Great Camps,
were built for Morgans, Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Carnegies . . . and Rockefellers in densely wooded settings.
The most spectacular Great Camp was a 68 building complex called Topridge. Built in the 1920s for cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, the main lodge boasts a living room 80 feet wide by 100 feet long. Massive timber beams support the 30 foot high ceiling. Anchoring each end of the room is an enormous walk-in fireplace made of stone (see photo below).
While the striking present-day rustic stone fireplace designs pictured
below may not be quite as massive as the walk-in hearth above, they, neverthe- less, have a very commanding presence. Whether crafted from
granite
(top row, below) or
fieldstone
(bottom row, below), they make a powerful design statement.
The
Adirondack Style
represents a uniquely American innovation. Roman- tic evocations of a pioneer past, the camps erected in the Adirondacks were unlike any buildings created be- fore.
Since its inception, the rustic and pic- turesque style of the Adirondacks has spread to many other regions of the country . . . . .
and continues to be as popular as ev- er for homes in mountainous, wooded, or waterside settings!
For more information about any of the rustic hearths pictured above, please
let us know
and we'll be hap- py to provide it for you.
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as we continually add new images of rustic stone fireplaces to our site.
