Fireplaces

The house had 4 fireplaces, two on the ground floor and two on the first floor, along two separate chimneys. The front window belongs to the first living space, which has one of these, and it opens to a smaller, second living space with the next fireplace. On the floor above, the rooms correspond identically to these, plus the entry hall (which makes the bedroom larger than the first living room below), and the fireplaces were in the same spots. And I say "had" because my partner and his dad have already removed the further set of (nearly identical) fireplaces, one directly over the other. These weren't particularly pretty, the marble was split (worse than it seemed, it had been very crappily repaired in places), and they severely interfered with furniture placement, so they went. We are planning a bathroom on the smaller room above. The hole in the picture below shows the light coming from this very sunny room once both fireplaces and chimneys were removed.

Before and after, second living room

This chimney continues its way up into the attic. The attic will also be refurbished, and this chimney completely removed, but it is too dangerous to remove the rest of it until the roof is removed as well, and remade. The fireplaces and chimneys in the front rooms will stay. They are more decorative, and we plan, at some point, to install a gas flame stove inside the fireplace in the first living room, flush with the marble. In this picture, you can see the old stove that was there before, which the previous owner took away. You can still see the slightly art deco style of the fireplace:

Inside the fireplace of the bedroom we will place a retro radiator*:

There were also a couple of chimneys in the back buildings, just a few bricks at an angle in a corner in the kitchen and the room further back (these where back to back and sharing the same chimney exit). These have also gone:

Filthy work I didn't partake in :) (I do have back problems). This my friends is a pile of broken bricks (nowhere near the whole amount).

*Radiators... we have already ordered the entire central heating system and radiators. This house has never had central heating, just coal and later gas stoves. We will place it ourselves, with help from a professional. We have ordered these radiators for the entire house (except the bathroom - we have something specialer in mind):

Zehnder Charleston

This is a classic or even retro model that we think fits perfectly with the style of the house. It is, additionally, and very importantly (especially in a house full of extremely hairy beings) very easy to clean. Everything is smooth and accessible with a brush, and the enamel is deliciously glossy so that nothing sticks to it. However... we ordered them in the deepest black available! :D a bit suicidal from the dust point of view, but one must allow for some eccentricities.