Heading to Home & Hearth

Home & hearth go together like R&R; buying & selling, and packing & moving. In other words, if you must relocate and are putting your home on the market, expect to receive about $1,500 more because fireplaces are what buyers want.

As Olympic gold medalist Magdalena Neuner puts it, “For me, there’s nothing better than curling up in my favorite blanket on a cloudy or rainy day and just knit. Especially in front of the fireplace.”

If you’re ready to make the big move from renting an apartment to purchasing a home with a hearth, you’re in luck since 60% of houses built today have a fireplace. That’s nearly 40% more than when homes were built during the 1970s—right around the time Nixon said, “When I retire I’m going to spend my evenings by the fireplace going through those boxes. There are things in there that ought to be burned.”

Indeed, a wood-burning fireplace is a very efficient way to heat your home while disposing of letters and private papers as well as discarding broken branches from outdoors. In addition, wood-burning fireplaces provide a measurable amount of heat so you can stay warm and cozy during the winter, although a fireplace is not limited to just one season. Chef and restaurateurAlice Waters admits, “I have a fireplace in my kitchen that I light every night, no matter what.”

Fireplaces have become so popular, some homes have them in several rooms. Actor Cory Monteith notes, “I took out a whole fireplace and put in broken glass and installed a burner underneath, so it looks like fire on ice. I did that in my bedroom suite.”

Once you find and purchase a home with a fireplace in the living room, family room, kitchen or bedroom, you’ll be anxious to move in and warm up. To ignite the relocation process, contact Golan’s Moving and Storage, which has been safely transporting people’s possessions since 1990.