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If you’ve ever sat by a campfire, you’ll know the almost magical power of a crackling outdoor fire. It draws people together, makes us tell stories we thought had been long-buried, and transforms plain old marshmallows into delectable toasted treats.

An outdoor stone fireplace not only does all of those things, but also adds sculptural beauty to your landscape. It’s no wonder they’re a growing trend.

“Outdoor fireplaces are making a comeback,” says Toby Parke, owner of Harborside Land Design in Portsmouth, N.H. “They’re definitely a nice item to have, and a nice gathering area,” says Toby. “That outdoor space draws you outside instead of inside on the couch watching television.”

Deciding to Build
With so many types of stones to choose from and potentials for design, an outdoor fireplace or fire pit may be a possibility for many backyards.

“To me, they’re so much a part of being outdoors,” says Steven Carpenter of Standing Stonescapes in York, Maine, who has designed and built outdoor fireplaces for several waterfront homes. “Stone, water, and fire—if you combine those three things you really have something to work with.”

The decision to build a stone fireplace is often made when designing the overall landscaping or can simply be an upgrade from an informal fire pit into something more aesthetically pleasing and permanent. 

“Often people have something, a clay chiminea, an open fire pit, to begin with and they want something better,” says Jim Leslie, of J.B. Leslie Mason Constractors. “They tell us, ‘I want something a little more permanent, I want some more masonry with it.’ From that point we’ll try to talk about what is it that you want.’”

Design Possibilities
When you hire a contractor to custom build a stone fireplace the design possibilities are many, and your fireplace can have custom features to meet the requirements of how you want to use it.

One of Jim Leslie’s clients had an unusual request: an outdoor pizza oven. “They had it in their mind from the get-go that they wanted a pizza oven and they wanted it outside,” he says. He worked with homeowners on design, making sure that the inside was lined with a hard clay fire brick, which he recommends to best withstand the high temperatures.

The surprising thing for most people, says Jim, is that an outdoor fireplace does not have to be much different from an indoor fireplace. “You can build the same unit that you can put into your house outside,” he explains. “They’re usually smaller and they don’t have to be as tall, they only have to be high enough to get the smoke away from people.”

Outdoor fireplaces can be incorporated into a beautiful part of a larger landscape design. Steven Carpenter designed a stonescape by Chauncey Creek where a stone wall curves along the waterfront leading to a circular patio area with stone fireplace. Large, stone slab steps lead down to the rocky beach below.

“When I saw that location we kind of started talking about what could happen there to make it something special,” he says. “Once they agreed it took on its own life.”

I love stone, and I think stone speaks for itself,” says Steven, who in addition to creating stone landscapes sculpts clay human figures. “Each stone is a sculpture and when you put them together it makes them sing.”

Outdoor fireplaces are also possible for small spaces. In a Portsmouth, N.H., backyard, Toby Parke designed and built a fireplace into a stone wall of Pennsylvania field stone as part of a complete redesign of the outdoor area with uneven ground that he built into terraced garden space with stonewalls—the natural stone complemented the natural landscape.

“The way we came up with that fireplace in a wall was that we were just trying to utilize as much space as we could in her backyard,” says Toby. “It was a good size but there was only so much space you could work with.”

The fireplace has two granite slabs at the base, and as a nice added touch, two rocks jutting out on each side, so that a grill can be placed over the fire for outdoor cooking. Toby says the homeowner is thrilled with her fabulous outdoor space that can be enjoyed not only in summer, but also during the colder months.

“What’s great is that the fire is backed by stone so it all just radiates onto the patio. It throws heat out 10, 15 feet, easy,” says Toby.

Choosing Stones
Toby  says the type of stone is mainly a personal preference. He gives his clients options on the different stones they can use, which vary greatly. “I show them pictures and they pretty much pick and choose,” he explains. “It’s kind of like picking out paint. It’s basically what’s aesthetically pleasing.”

A lot of people choose native field stone for fireplaces, notes Jim, but now “there’s many choices for stone and that trend is starting to change. Supply companies now have so many samples, people go in and say, ‘I like this particular stone.’” Some stones are more durable than others to heat, which is why he recommends lining the inside with firebrick to keep the look but make it better able to withstand the heat.

“No question, stone in my mind is by far the best looking of any type of outdoor fireplace,” says Jim.
Steven says he tends to mix and match stone, and will even incorporate details such as fossils, in his fireplace designs. “As long as the color and texture complement each other, I’ll use it,” he says.

He tries to look for stones that have not been freshly cut from the quarry, but rather have been above ground for a while, weathered by time and the elements. “It just gives it that much more character,” says Steven.

After he completed the stonework on the Chauncy Creek project, the homeowners held a party set to correspond with a lunar eclipse. The combination of water, stone, fire, and the moon’s eclipse provided a spectacular sight.

“I look at it as art,” explains Steven. “I don’t look at it as just a wall. It’s much more than that to me.”