Night Light

MOROCCAN The Mediterranean style of this house intensifies around the fireplace. Forget Italy and Spain—you’re in Morocco now. Robert, who has frequently traveled to Morocco and has worked in tile for years, brought all his experience to bear on this stucco fireplace, which he says is “shaped like Lana Turner’s turban.” The organic, rounded shape of the fireplace is accented with tile and river-rock mosaics Robert designed; he created the hearth cross and tabletops to complement the surround.

Night Light
I can’t believe I said that.

Why would I tell someone I hardly know about…. Why would I think they would care? I can only plead firelight—sitting around an open fire inspires confidences. Why do we all like to stand around and gaze into a fire so much? Why do we talk better around a fire?

It’s an atavistic feeling: those who are in your fire circle must be your allies—otherwise they’d be out there somewhere in the dark. It’s easy to say too much to people you trust, and with the last glass of wine in my hand, I trust everyone here in the flickering firelight.

More and more friends invite their guests to linger over a last glass by the fire after dinner. But these days, the fireplace is under the stars, in the backyard. Flames are all the rage: we are all about hearth and home, but it’s more than comfort food and cocooning. We’re reaching back to a connection with our past and the land. An outdoor room has become a necessity; a fireplace anchors and extends the life of the outdoor room into another season.

“What an outdoor fireplace always does,” says landscape designer Robert Bellamy, who has designed many fireplaces and owns two, “is extend the dinner party beyond that last bottle of wine. Guests linger around the fire longer than they meant to stay. Usually, that’s the best part of the evening.”

TEXAS TRADITIONAL Stephen Clifton and Ed Gray’s outdoor living room (built by David Brothers, owner of Design Works, from a Robert Bellamy design) opens off the den, which opens off the kitchen of this traditional Bluffview house. The Oklahoma split-stone fireplace uses a single slab as the hearth and another as the mantel; the stair-stepped surround features a fountain made from an antique Czechoslovakian stone trough, and there are several window niches “just the right size for a cat to curl up in.”

Fire Works

Basic Fireplace Building

Robert Bellamy had a hand in designing all three of the outdoor fireplaces pictured here. If you’re thinking about building your own outside hearth, here are some of Robert’s suggestions.

1. You have to have a good scale drawing before you start to build.

2. Consider your location carefully. The stack has to be higher than any structure nearby. You can’t tuck your fireplace right up next to the house.

3. Note the canopy of trees over your location. If the trees are too low, they’ll cause a smoke downdraft.

4. The height of the chimney should be appropriate to where you want the smoke to go—over the roof, over the trees, over your neighbor’s house. 

5. A giant chimney by itself looks like a burnt-out plantation; put your fireplace in context with walls and seating.

6. Can you see the fireplace from inside the house? Being able to view the fireplace from inside ties your indoor and outdoor living spaces together.

7. Imagine how high you want your fire. (Not flames, but fire.) Robert has built patio-level fireplaces, but he recommends lifting your hearth a foot or 18 inches above ground level. It’s more comfortable to sit around.

CAMP Not too long ago, the mansard-roofed house was the Dallas ideal, but now Tuscany has supplanted France in the hearts of Highland Parkers. These mansard owners decided to preserve and improve the original faux French: the house is antique brick, so the fireplace is, too, except for the limestone hearth and mantelpiece and the firebox and shelves of Pennsylvania ledge stone. Robert suspects the home’s original landscaping was designed by Lambert’s, the famous Dallas company that set the standard for landscape design in the ’60s. “So we tried to recycle things from the landscaping,” Robert says. “We used the ’60s-style iron gates as panels in the wall and covers for the niches and tried to integrate other original elements into the new space.” In his words, the result is “borderline camp.”

8. Remember to think of the fireplace as the focal point of an outdoor room. Be sure there is plenty of room for cozy seating, and don’t skimp on accessories, such as a mantel or fountain.

9. The style of the fireplace should harmonize with the architecture of the house, but it is separate. Robert encourages his clients to let their imaginations go wild when designing their outdoor rooms.

10. An outdoor fireplace can cost anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000. A slightly less expensive option is to buy just the firebox kit—the “bones” of a fireplace with as much stack as you need—and build the rest yourself.

11. A solid foundation is key. You need an 18-inch to 2-foot slab and maybe a pier or two, depending on how much weight the slab is going to carry.

12. Every town has different regulations, so be sure to check with the city to find out how far your fireplace needs to be from the property line and what safety precautions are required.