August 2016 37
Above: Concrete sidewalks in front of the house were also replaced with mortared flagstone. For a
contrast of texture and color, Ohio River stone was alternated with pine bark nuggets as mulch. The
water jar is a plumbed, pondless fountain that sits on a pea gravel pit.
The Rumford Fireplace
In the late 1700s, Benjamin Thompson, also
known as Count Rumford, studied and wrote
about the nature of heat. This led to the
discovery, among others, of a more efficient
fireplace design: tall and shallow with angled
side walls in the firebox to reflect more heat,
and a streamlined throat that allowed less
heated room air to escape. After research-
ing these fireplaces, the owner of Minks
Landscape Contractors, David Samples, built
one for the homeowners in this article of
a mixture of 3"-4" and 6"-8" pieces of the
hand-hewed stone.