Would a room divider of that size make sense if it were anything but a fireplace? Have you looked into removing it all together?

We had this FP in our last home it was a god send during a 3 day power outage but it was aslo part of the whole house construction there was ahuge concrete box in the basement to act as the base when the house was built. I loved the look of the kitchen wall where we had our gas range up against the stone .I cannot think of a reason it can't be cleaned inside so you could use it . I have not seen one exactly like that though . I think leaving unfinished is better than slapping stuff on there . It seems to look like someone did awood stove type insert but hard to tell. but I see heat vents at the top too. I would get a proper fireplace company to have a look .

Hello anybody out there ????

Not sure what the problem is, exactly. Looks good to me.

We had a fireplace company out and they had never seen or heard of one. That is not an insert . It is the firebox .
I do like it but it takes up so much room and since we cannot use it or plumb it for gas we are trying to think of ways that space is better put to good use. At least on the firebox side . I like the separation it gives on the kitchen side but the living room side is small .

Nancy, I like what you did with the stucco. It has been a consideration.

arch_gw , we have considered removing it but that is a messy job and we would have a hole. I would put in a cabinet room divider in that case .

I would find a second consult on the fireplace. Someone will know how to deal with it.

A traditional Russian stove will have channels in the brick to heat up the mass of brick. They were often the sole source of heat in a small cabin, so in the center, so all rooms could be heated. Because the draft is through channels, rather than straight up, it takes longer for the draft to start pulling up and they can smoke a bit longer when you start the fire. Of course, I have no idea whether a "Russian stove" in America is like a Russian stove in Russia.

I'm pretty sure that an inspector could snake a camera up and see if the thing is sooty or in good shape. We had one, I think from a chimney company when we bought our house.

I think you need a fireplace specialist who understands what you have there those vent s say heatilator to me so get another look before ruining it with slapping on stuff . That chimney part is there for a reason is anything elses venting out that chimey from the basement maybe ? In my experience people do weird things sometimes and maybe this is one fix for a chimeny needing to be there for something else ,

Thanks for the ideas. My first choice would be to use the fireplace and I hadn’t thought of them being able to use a camera to get into those horizontal vents and see any problems.

To finish it or lighten it, you could look at Romabio (link) for Colour options (link). They have many BM colours or they can custom tint as well.

It depends on the rest of your room and surroundings. I think I'd be tempted to make it darker, not lighter.

Depends on code in your area as well, but could you attach a piece of wood to make a mantle - I see a small mantle made of the same brick - but you can get hollow mantles that might slide over that brick. Hollow Mantles (link) The mantle could be stained to match your exposed ceiling beams. It would add a bit more character to the face of it. Right now to me, with the firebox so low - it looks a little bottom heavy and could use something with some weight above it.

Very often code dictates what is possible. In my area I think it is 20" for anything combustible above the firebox.

I like the idea of a wood mantel going over the brick one. It is a room with large west facing windows and I have toyed with the idea of a very dark green or black. Hubby is scared of the black.