This year’s Masonry Heater Association (MHA) Annual Meeting held in April in Little Switzerland, North Carolina, continued the tradition of bringing heater builders together from North America and around the world to share in the techniques and processes of masonry heater and wood-fired oven construction. Here are some highlights of the innovative work and great camaraderie!
Eric Mosier of Solid Rock Masonry’s workshop was bold and innovative in its overall design. The creative volumes and cantilevered benches (supports are temporary) provide a fanciful modern feel and significantly move the masonry heater from being a rigid descendent of the fireplace into a whole new architectural role. The masonry heater can be something you interact with rather than something you look at. It can be a couch, a staircase, a bar….
Lasse Holmes led the construction of a design dubbed the Double Shoebox Rocket. This was an extremely practical design which included an efficient firebox, both direct and indirectly heated ovens, a cooktop, and heated bench.
Jon Santiago of Hearth & Timber led the build of the workhorse oven that serves the pizza party. This rectangular oven offers a very practical plan and process for residential and commercial wood-fired oven construction. The whole oven was constructed with both impressive craft and speed over two and a half days to be ready for the annual celebration.
Jessica Steinhauser of Stonehouse Kacheloven presented her “Muskoka” stove. This unit is a beautiful room heater. In her studio, Jessica brings to North America the centuries-old technology of kachels which are full-depth tiles for facing masonry heaters. She has developed beautiful glazes and inspiring bas-relief details to take the stoves she produces to the next level. The project features our K402 firebox door!
Mike Ellis, Grant Kessler, and Maria Day came together to produce this spontaneous and whimsical oven which reminds us all how beautiful and fun a functional object can be.
Jason Temple led a great workshop for beginner’s featuring the Contraflow design with an oven.
Chris Prior, Derek Kowalchuk, Gene Padgitt and I taught the Masonry Heater Theory & Practice course. This course featured a curriculum that covered the basics and theory of masonry heater building and design that took place before the conference to give the students a solid background. At the meeting, we focused on a hands-on build of a Contraflow design with a heated bench. We are proud of the quality of the course and the accomplishment of the students. This project features the K505 Firebox Door.
There were also additional workshops and seminars not documented here. We highly recommend becoming members of the Masonry Heater Association and attending next year’s annual meeting. When you are ready to build your next project, you can browse our full catalog of masonry heater and oven hardware!
If you have questions or comments, follow the link to the forum topic.
