The Stacked Stone Fireplace... Stacked In Your Favor!
A dry stone or dry stacked stone fireplace, for many of us, is the ultimate fireplace surround . . . . .
. . . Carefully assembled by human hands, the place- ment of each stone reflects the skill and artistry of its
creator. Each hand-crafted surround is truly unique and -- in many instances -- a veritable work of art!
Technically,
dry stone
is a building method by which structures are con- structed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. In practice, however, the stones used to build a stacked stone fireplace -- though assembled tightly together -- sometimes allow for a very narrow mortared bed joint that is raked back deeply into the stone work so the mortar is undetectable.
The practice of dry stacking stone goes back thousands of years, in many parts of the world, and was often
used to erect retaining walls and field boundaries or fences to contain livestock. The strength of a dry stacked
wall relies on the weight of the stones and friction between each stone to those around it. Very strong and long
lasting walls can be built with this method, with some existing English Cornish "hedges" believed to date back
to 4000 B.C. or before. To build an enduring wall, care must be taken to make sure it's on a solid base, the
stones fit tightly together, and basic rock wall build- ing techniques are adhered to.
There are several methods of constructing dry stone walls, depending on the quantity and type of stones
available. Most older walls are constructed from stones and boulders cleared from the fields during preparation
for agriculture
(field stones),
but some were also erected from stone quarried nearby. Thou- sands of miles of such walls continue to exist,
many of them centuries old.
While the dry stone technique was generally used for field enclosures and re- taining walls, including the
attractive undulating wall pictured below, left, it has been utilized in a multitude of other ways, as well.
For example, the benches around the fire pit in the photo below, right, employ dry stone bases capped with
large stone slabs for seating.
In addition, it has also been used for buildings, such as shown in the two storybook cottages pictured
below.
Since at least the Middle Ages, some bridges capable of carrying horse or carriage traffic have been
constructed using dry stone techniques. The beautiful arched example pictured below is of much more recent
origin and was constructed in Ontario by members of the Dry Stone Wall Association of Canada in 2007.
One of today's finest stacked stone fireplace artisans is Lew French, who re- sides on Martha's Vineyard.
The design pictured below, with a close-up on the right, is a striking example of his artistry!
Dry stone or dry stacked stone fireplace designs can be created from virtual- ly any stone type, shape, size
and color . . . in nearly any configuration. As shown in the following examples, the stones can range from
small river stones in varying colors carefully assembled in a symmetrical arrangement (below left) . . . . . . to
large monochromatic stone blocks arranged in a ran- dom, asymmetric manner for a much more rustic look (below
right).
The following two designs, crafted from river rock and beach pebbles, are perfect for a small beach cottage
. . . . .
. . while the monumental designs pictured below, crafted from massive round boulders or large rectangular
blocks of cut stone, are right at home in a sprawling mountain lodge.
Outdoors, as with dry stone walls, a stacked stone fireplace is a perfect complement to the surrounding land- scape. The unique design pictured at right is from Champlain Stone . . . . . . . while the more traditional design shown below was created by members of the Dry Stone Wall Association of Canada.
For more information about any of the stacked stone fireplace designs pictured here, please
let us know and we'll be happy to provide it for you.
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as we continually add new photos of stacked stone hearth designs to our site.
