I am new to this site and need help with a project.

In short, I have a fireplace in my house that the previous owner put stone veneer on and did a bad job of it. We don’t use the fireplace and because of the shape of our living room/den it would be the ideal place to put our tv with furniture. My plan was to cover it completely with drywall and add a shelf/entertainment center. I attached a picture of what it looks like now and what I plan to do.

My concern is whether or not covering it with studs and drywall would be against building code in the event we sell the house in the future because it would make the fireplace unusable. Which isn’t an issue for us because we don’t ever use it.