Carleenimlach your fireplace is stunning. It is infact original in bungalow detailing, and the bricks are not painted. I know this treatment very well. They had a brick stain applied, which is a red oxide painted to give the appearance of an even red brick face, this was done when tuck pointing is applied to the mortar course. I can see yours was. It looks as though it was charcoal, also another Edwardian bungalow detail, and the lines accentuate the archway. The mantel itself is absolutely beautiful. I myself would restore the brickwork, and let this period detail return to being the heart of the home. The hearth bricks definitely need to go, in their place I would lay a single slab on stone, which is a little costly, but overall, is worth the expensive you save in defacing the brickwork anyway. I suggest a rough sawn bluestone slab that will further enhance the charcoal tuck pointing, and grey is not only a current interior colour, but it is also what edwardian bungalows often featured. So you get to have a current, updated interior whilst preserving the beauty and character of a period home. This is where the homes value lies.

Understand what you are saying, it is a built in fire model and not a free standing, so to build it in you would either have to box it in internallyor external brick work would need to to worked with. The easier choice,I think would be to box it in internally similar to the photo tyrian posted, or just to the height of the fire box with the flu exposed. Do you have a model number that can be googled for installation details or contact Lopi supplier for this to ensure safety.

i love the pictures that Siriuskey has posted (this site is so frustrating in that you cannot reply to other users!!), the stone work is fabulous - and window seats would complete the cosy, ski lodge feel - but those TVs are so high up! I am Not a fan of tvs over fireplaces, especially with such a spectacular architectural opportunity on the wall behind it. it is possible to get artworks positioned on a track to cover the tv if there is not another possible location for it. just a thought!

That picture you put up has a stained glass window above the mantelpiece , so while it is marginally possible the window was put there when the chimney was removed , what bigreader says about it being decorative only is most likely . You can get fairly narrow flame effect electric heaters -- the ones around $100 look like it too , but the $200 and up ones seem quite realistic as far as flames -- I have no idea how good they are at actually heating though -- about 3 houses ago I put a gas heater into an existing fireplace , with the fake logs and everything ( the gas flame curled around the logs ) and that was quite good , but I doubt it would fit into your fireplace -- does it look like it ever had a 'hole' in it ?