Rock Out With Country
Rock Fireplaces!

Rustic stone and rock fireplaces have been around for centuries and, undoubtedly, will continue to be popular for centuries from now . . . . .

There is something very primal, yet comforting, about sitting around a stone hearth with a crackling fire. It gives us an opportunity, at least for a moment in time, to get back to our roots.

Cottage pictured above by master stone artisan,
Lew French.

Nothing beats coming home to a cozy rock fireplace to warm your hearth . . . . . . .

. . . . . AND your heart!

It was around 1860 when the  Arts and Crafts Movement began in England and  continued  until well into the first quarter of the 20th century.     The movement began as a protest against machine-age artificiality and sought, in the face of the grim industrialization of the 19th century,  to create new and more pleasing living environments for people by utilizing natural building materials  in their homes and by employing fine craftsmanship in assembling those materials.

Spearheading  the  movement  were English critic John Ruskin (1819-1900) and  artist and designer William Morris (1834-1896).     Both men fervently believed in honesty of materials and craftsmanship.

The movement brought about a distinct American offshoot - the Craftsman Style - in which vernacular forms were often used.  Leader of the American Arts and Crafts Movement,  Gustav Stickley (1858-1942) promoted a holistic  view  of  living,  seeking  beauty and creativity in simplicity and organic harmony.   Craftsmanship was used to reveal the innate qualities of natural materials. Stickley's publication, The Craftsman (1901-1916), featured numerous illustrations of cozy rock fireplaces - two of which are shown below left.

Some of the greatest examples of American Craftsman Style architecture can be found in the works of the Greene brothers. California architects Charles and Henry Greene (1868-1957, 1870-1954) created numerous architectural masterpieces in wood and stone. A seamless union of sim-
plicity and sophisticated detail with meticulous attention to building ma-
terials and natural surroundings, many of their houses are models of time-
less home design.

Very Highly Recommended Reading

The ideal of the Craftsman home was
an honest and beautiful building, well planned for efficient use of space and materials, built to last several genera-
tions, and within the means of the av-
erage family. .

The Craftsman Style of architectural design advocated four basic principles:

1. A style of building designed to fit the ways people actually lived,

2. Designed to have the best structural outline and the simplest form,

3. Designed to incorporate materials that belong to the surrounding     countryside and that are in harmony with the landscape, and . . .

4. Rendered in colors that are pleasing to the eye.

Simply stated, form followed function in the Craftsman home and, whenever possible, it was completely integrated with its natural surroundings.

Generally less grand than the Adirondack Style but, nevertheless, possess-
ing all the superb quality of workmanship, the Arts and Crafts, or Crafts-
man, Style was simple and organic . . .

The stone hearth design pictured at left is by master stone artisan, Lew French.

See more extraordinary stone hearth designs by Lew French!

On a more human scale than the massive lodge-like stone hearths of Adirondack "Great Camp" structures, the cozy rock fireplaces of the Arts and Crafts Move-
ment were well-suited for cottages and bungalows -
a tradition that continues to this day.

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