By the Wood Stove
There’s nothing like the cozy crackle and comforting warmth of a wood-burning stove on a snowy winter day. For Crystal and Gordon Bolon, their home kitchen is a favorite place to gather to watch the falling snow. With glass windows reaching from floor to ceiling, they enjoy a lovely view of the outdoors while evading the bitter chill of an Ohio winter.
Their home was designed by an architect who was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, using an approach called bio-architecture, which invites the outside in. The kitchen makes up part of a single open room, including the dining room and TV room, a perfect gathering place for friends and family any time of the year.
“We’ve never actually remodeled the kitchen, which makes it very interesting,” says Gordon. “It’s very retro-looking still.”
The kitchen has kept its ’50s-era charm, featuring knotty pine cabinets. The open kitchen makes it easy to cook for and serve guests in the dining area. But the favorite feature of the room is unanimously the wood-burning stove.
“I love the wood-burning stove,” Crystal says. “Cozy whilst watching the snow fall in the winter.”
“It can be 10° outside with the wind blowing, with snow everywhere, but with the wood-burning stove fired up, sometimes we have to open the door to let the heat out,” says Gordon. “We don’t spend much time in the rest of the house in winter.”
The kitchen holds fond memories for Crystal and her family from over the past 17 years. “We watched our daughter and her friends grow up in this kitchen,” she says.
