Wood Stove Roundup

We're planning an addition to our house, and have myriad finishes and fixtures to choose, but I just had to start with the wood stove.  It's going to be the heart of the house after all, and the place we gather as a family the most (after the kitchen and the dining room table).

We were originally hoping for a field stone fireplace with a thick mantel.  Just a little something like this Lew French fireplace:

But reality and our budget intervened, as well as the practicality of a wood stove in our frigid climate, where a real fireplace can send your hard-earned dollars straight up the flue.

So, I've been hunting for the ideal wood stove.  I admit, I don't find them as appealing as a real fireplace, but I'm hoping to find a stove with as much character.

We already have a small Jotul, a Norwegian wood stove. It's a smaller version of the F500 Oslo model below.  I'm partial to the Gothic arches, especially the side door, which reminds me of the elaborate woodwork in Gothic churches.  These stoves do an impressive job of heating a house.

I'm also a fan of this funny little Shaker stove by Wittus.  My husband thinks it's hideous.  I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder:

Same goes for this Danish Morso stove, below.  My husband thinks I'm insane, but I think it has such personality!  And history: it's been made this way since 1932.

Soapstone wood stoves are great because the stone retains heat and radiates a more gentle heat than cast iron, and for long after the fire dies.  I can't find a soapstone wood stove I absolutely love, but this one is attractive enough.  It's the Heritage model from Hearthstone.

Another soapstone stove I like a lot is the Fireview from the Woodstock Soapstone Company in Vermont.  I seem to have a thing for Gothic arches:

Of course, the granddaddy of all soapstone wood stoves is the Tulikivi.  With a price tag about ten times that of the model above, I'll have to save this one for my day-dreams:

Update over a year later: We installed a Progress Hybrid from the Woodstock Soapstone Company.  We have been very impressed with it.  It heats beautifully, the soapstone holds heat even overnight, and the fire itself is fascinating to watch.  If you really want to geek out on wood stoves, watch the YouTube video of the Progress Hybrid at a wood stove convention.

Here is a picture off the manufacturer's website of the stove.  Ours has black cast iron trim, not brown, like this picture.  Also unlike this photo, ours sits directly on our polished concrete floor.  Because we were short on inspiration and time, the wall protection behind ours is black-painted sheet metal.  I'm hoping one day to replace it with something more interesting--maybe Delft tile?