A Victorian without a fireplace? No more.
One of our "nice to haves" on the house checklist was a fireplace. It seemed a bit strange that our house didn't have one, but it's also not uncommon to have had them removed at some point. When we bought, we knew the original mantle to the fireplace was in storage in the basement. You can see where the original fireplace was in the "Before" photo - it's the chaise between the window and the hallway. Originally, we'd hoped to uncover that fireplace but we realized it was tiny (made sense, as a coal fireplace) and had been filled in with cement. So, onto a new location for the fireplace: replacing the old "monstrosity" (as the seller's realtor called it) of a built-in cabinet on the left of the "Before" photo with a direct vent gas fireplace. Before After The teardown To start, Mike tore out the cabinet. It was a presumably 60s style built-in that we didn't serve a real purpose for us. Oddly, there was a return vent ben