Frank Lloyd Wright believed the hearth was the heart of a home and made sure his domestic designs had big fireplaces. His flat roofs might have leaked but folks could always find comfort seated by welcoming flames. Modern life patterns have made the kitchen the true heart of the home. HG/BSK are fortunate. The HG/BSK homes in New Mexico and Prince Edward Island have very big hearts. That is, kitchen-dining room-living room, and fireplace, are in one big room. In New Mexico, the big room is bordered by a wall of bookshelves and an old Mexican chest containing a flat screen television. In PEI, one wall is composed of more than 40 feet of windows facing the ever changing sea and sun. In New Mexico, the fireplace is big and efficient, Heat pours out through some ingenious vents in the adobe, warming much of the house. In PEI, the fire source is a Danish Rais wood burning stove. The flames are visible through the glass front. Somehow, a wood fire is the perfect dining companion. And, after a vigorous pre-dinner swim, exercise and shower, an icy vodka tastes particularly invigorating and refreshing. The combination, on a cool night, of warm flames and ice cold alcohol is (at least for HG) irresistible. In New Mexico, there’s a sculptural adobe Kiva fireplace in the HG/BSK bedroom. It is there that HG nestles, book in hand, happy in a lounge chair and ottoman with a camel hair throw warming HG’s shoulders. Makes winter a happy season as the fragrance of burning Pinon logs envelops the room.
