Gather the flues of the fireplaces into the walls and carry them up through the roof, high enough to throw off the smoke, finishing each stack with a cap.
Fireplaces on walls that carry their flues
Set each fireplace against a wall that can carry its flue up through the floors above to the roof: an inner wall that rises through the house or an end wall without windows; put the fireplaces of two rooms back to back on the wall between them, and those of the upper floors over those below, so that the flues gather into a few stacks.
A flue must rise without a break from the fireplace to the top of the stack, so the fireplace stands where a wall goes on up through every floor above it. In the double-pile house the stacks stand in the walls across the house between the front and back rooms, each serving the rooms either side of it, floor above floor; in the smaller American house they stand in the end walls, one for the front rooms and one for the back.
The designer places the fireplaces of each floor in turn, the principal floor first: a wall with windows is not used, and a wall is used only if every floor above has a wall in the same line there. A fireplace in line with one already placed, back to back or below, is preferred. The stacks found are kept with the plan, so that the roof can carry them up.
Related rules
At the end of the apartment of state, in the bedchamber of state, set the state bed: the richest piece in the house, its tester high under the ceiling, its curtains, valances and headcloth of the richest stuff, with the chairs and stools of the room covered to match; it is a bed of honour more than of sleep.
In the formal room, stand the furniture against the walls and leave the middle of the room clear: a pier table (with its glass above) between each pair of windows, the sofa facing the fire, a chair either side of the chimneypiece, the chairs ranged round the walls in a line with the dado, to be brought out when wanted and put back after; and keep each wall symmetrical about its middle, its chimneypiece or its windows.
In the room of the Regency and after, bring the furniture out into the room in groups for the occupations of the company: a sofa by the fire with a sofa table before it, a round table in the middle with chairs round it, the pianoforte, a work table, a couch; leave the walls for the pier tables, the cabinets and the bookcases.
Turn the principal front of the villa to the south; put the rooms for summer to the north, the rooms for winter to the south and west, and the rooms for spring and autumn to the east, looking over the gardens.
Set the town house back from the pavement across a sunk area that lights and serves the basement, fence the area from the street with iron railings, and bridge it with the steps to the front door; behind the house, lay out a long garden walled in brick.
Cite this page Chris Paton, “Fireplaces on walls that carry their flues”, The Textbook of Architecture, https://textbookofarchitecture.com/rule/flues-in-walls. Text, drawings and models licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.