If you sand and finish just the hearth area it will look like a patch. If you want it to look more perfect you need to sand and refinish the entire wood floor. It depends what you are willing yo live with and what you are willing to spend. An in-between solution would be to sand and finish the entire rows that include the hearth area. The change between new and existing finishes would be along a long joint which is a lot less noticeable than across the boards. I have seen it done with satisfactory results. Depending on how much wood floor you have it could be worth trying that first.

Thanks Bob. I think you called it right. Unfortunately, the same wood floor is continuous through the whole first floor (about 2000 sq ft). I think I may be better off doing what you say about finishing across the whole area side to side or just continuing the tile onto the floor as a new hearth. Thanks for the insight. I really appreciate it!

Problem solved…

Well done!