When I was younger our family and cousins used to spend the last week-weekend before Labor Day on Long Beach Island, N.J., soaking up the final carefree days of the season before going back to school and everyone’s busy schedule. Evenings were a bit cooler, so a bonfire on the beach with a s’mores roast was always a great way to end the night. Summer vacations are over. One way to extend this season and enjoy company outside is to expand your living area to the outdoors. A home’s living space can be extended to the backyard with swimming pools, decks, patios, outdoor kitchens and fireplaces and fire pits. Today, I thought I would explore some fire pit options.
Today’s Fire Pit
Fire pit fuels vary, but generally they are either wood or propane. Propane cannot match the beauty of the crackling of a natural wood fire, but a propane fire pit is much easier, safer and a cleaner fire. Today, many families are opting for propane instead of wood. Here’s a couple of links to some unique fire pits:
- Set the water and the atmosphere ablaze with a floating water fire pit http://www.aquafirepit.com/.
- Bring elegance and warmth to your home with an artistic fire pit http://www.firepitart.com/index2.php.
Council Rings
Jens Jensen, a Dutch-born landscape architect who immigrated to the United States in 1881, often placed a “council ring” in his designs. The council ring was embedded in the heritage of both the Vikings and the Native Americans. Jensen felt that when seating everyone at an equal height in a circle everyone could look each other in the eye and no one became the head of the table. Many parks and estates in various cities throughout the United States were the result of Jens Jensen’s genius. One of Jensen’s designs is the marvelous grounds of a Maine property called Skylands; a landscape originally designed for Edsel and Eleanor Ford and currently owned by Martha Stewart. Although the Ford’s decided not to install a council ring into the design, Martha Stewart found the original plans and had it installed: Skylands’ landscape with fire pit on Martha Stewart’s home Mount Desert Island.
Dry Stone Fire Pit
Stone is the oldest construction material known to mankind. There are ancient remaining dry stone structures scattered throughout the world from the Egyptian pyramids and the Peruvian temples to prehistoric dwellings. Below are two examples of dry stone fire pits:
- Dry Stone Conservancy ~ vertical stacked blue stone http://www.drystone.org/publicgallery/album23/DSC_0241
- Andrew Loudon(Cumbria) dry stone fire pit
Whether you decide to enjoy the fall season with an outdoor fire pit or not, I wish you and your family a season filled with beautiful moments and happy memories.
