A masonry stove (or masonry heater) warms a home by capturing the heat from periodic burning of wood into a large mass of rock/brick/tile, and then radiating that heat over a long period at a fairly constant temperature. The technology exists in many forms from the Roman hypocaust to the Swiss/Austrian/German kachelofen.   In Eastern and Northern Europe and North Asia, these Kachelofens (or Steinofens) evolved in many different forms and names, such as a Russian stove, and Finnish or Swedish Stove ("contra-flow stove").  

Our masonry stove incorporates a proven core by Norbert Senf from www.heatkit.com.   We had the Heatkit shipped from Canada to Portland, OR and picked it up in a heavy duty pickup (it’s quite heavy!).  Our stone mason Larry Littlefield built the kit using Heatkit instructions.   Emily collected appropriate sized rocks from all over the land for facing.   Larry then did the beautiful facing.  The benchtops are soapstone, bought in Medford.   It’s the same soapstone we used for the kitchen countertops.   So far, I’ve made lots of little fires to cure it.   I haven’t been able to make a big fire yet because the water loop in the back doesn’t have water in it yet and I don’t want to damage it (November 2010).