Greg, Dovre Vintage 50, Modern meets traditional

Greg Penn, Darlington, County Durham
August 14, 2019

Tell us a bit about your renovation

It is an 1850’s four-storey Victorian Terrace that when I purchased it, was a dentists and most people would have considered it inhabitable. There was no real bathroom/kitchen, which meant camping out for 6 months, filling and emptying the bath with a bucket! It was my first ever owned home and my first project and, over time, I learned all the trades I needed – mainly due to budget! But it turns out, I love doing it – it occupies all my spare time, but I get a real buzz from breathing life back into something old and unloved.

The party piece of the house came about when I removed the wall between the two main reception rooms to create a living/kitchen/dining space with 12ft ceilings and keeping all the beautiful original details. As it had been a dentists, most of them had been ripped out or covered – including the fireplaces sadly. I knew before I’d completed on the house which wood burner I wanted, so had to find a mantel that would fit it – a salvaged cast iron surround that would have originally been around a range – it was huge, the mantel was 6ft high! The whole project took just over 2 years, and I’ve just recently moved on to project number two – a Georgian mansion in Devon that needs lots of love but I’m hoping is my forever home!

How do you find inspiration for your interior style?

Instagram is full of beautiful inspiration as well as an incredibly supportive network of friendly, like minded people that are a huge source of motivation when the place is full of dust and the end feels like a long way away! Pinterest is a great source too!

Which stove did you opt for?

The Dovre Vintage 50.

Why did you choose this stove?

I fell in love with the style of it at first. I knew I wanted something modern, to contrast against the traditional setting and it also needed to be a reasonable size to work within the large space. I’m passionate about the environment too so it was really important that the stove was efficient – if nothing else to save some money on logs. It gets cold up north and I used the log burner as the main source of heating most of the time – despite installing a new central heating system, I’m far happier getting the wood burner going!

What do you like most about owning a log burner?

To me, having grown up with wood burners and open fires, it never really feels quite like home to me without one – but I definitely didn’t want the mess and draughts associated with an open fire! There’s fewer feelings that make me happier than a log store full of dry wood, a wood burner set with the flames flickering away and a glass of wine in hand. The fact the Dovre burns so cleanly means the glass barely needs cleaning, the ash hardly ever needs clearing out and it’s a dream to light.

What was the installation process like?

Scott and his team were fantastic. My vision for it was a bit unconventional but they handled it with real professionalism. As the house was a total project and the fireplace needed opening up to match the surround, a new opening was needed, and a lintel put in place which inevitably was a bit dusty, but I had it done the same time as the wall came down, so dust from the fireplace was the least of the problems! I wanted the stove room sealing too which caused some slight head scratching being a terraced house, but we got there in the end! The stove works beautifully and really heats up the house quickly whilst being very controllable.

Retailer Name: Siberian Stoves
Social Media: @manwithahammer

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