Godin Wood Stove

My Mom bought this beautiful old Godin wood stove at an antique store decades ago. At one point we hooked up a propane tank to it to make hot mulled wine for the holidays, but mostly it has just been sitting in the corner of our winery, looking cute.

It was made in France, and I love that it was the French word for wood “Bois” inside, to let everyone know it isn’t a coal burner. It has some beautiful details, and I like the colors. A little bath and a scrub with an old toothbrush helped bring it back to life.

Originally, the plan was to make the chimney in my cottage functional, and install this as a heat source. I even tracked down the company that fixes up all the old stoves they have in McMenamins pubs, but this particular stove wasn’t old enough that they were allowed to refurbish it, or new enough to use as is. It turns out no one makes a wood stove small enough for my cottage that goes with my esthetic (they all look sleek and modern) so I changed route.

I ended up putting in the mantle instead. Because of the width of the opening, it was a choice between the mantle and a working wood stove. While it was a big disappointment to not be able to heat my cottage with wood, realistically I would only be lighting a fire a few times a year, and I will enjoy my mantle every day.

So the Godin isn’t hooked up, and doesn’t produce heat, but it still looks great in the space. The colors look great with the beautiful tile hearth my Dad built. I’m hoping to put a big candle inside so I can get a flickering light in the evenings.

Building a house is such an interesting experience. Some of my most outlandish ideas are easily achieved, and some requests that I think are quite simple end up being impossible. It’s all about adjusting expectations, trade-offs, and learning what you really can and can’t live without. In the end, I got a gorgeous antique stove, and totally unique mantle which I love. As long as my heat pump keeps working, I’ll be fine!