Summer's 'Latest Flames'

Want to warm up those summer-in-place nights? Looking for a low-cost addition to your backyard comfort zone? Or perhaps you just need a safe method to conduct ritual burning of all 2020 calendars?

"For those who don't have a built-in outdoor fireplace as a centerpiece, a portable model could be an ideal option," observes CA-Modern magazine staff writer Adriene Biondo in her feature covering that topic for the Summer '20 issue, 'Latest Flames.'

Biondo is the Eichler-owning restoration consultant who spearheaded a successful campaign for Los Angeles to designate an 'Historic Preservation Overlay Zone' in Eichler's Balboa Highlands development in Granada Hills.

As she has done recently in CA-Modern with lamps, lampshades, houseplants, clocks, and wall art, Biondo surveys the field and zeroes in on ten fireplace models that look at home in a mid-century modern yard.

"Outdoor fireplaces come in all shapes and sizes," she concludes initially. Picking units that range in price from $1,750 to less than $300, she adds, "Most of the ten outdoor fire models we've selected offer lightweight portability, which makes them a great option since they can be readily packed and transported when you're heading out on a road trip, or going camping."

At the high end of that price range are models by a company whose name should speak to design-oriented homeowners: Modfire. The Phoenix-based firm is led by a pair of Hoosiers who have created a blend for its seven fireplace models, between desert modernism and what the company's website terms "Chicago urban loft style."

"Although the company has grown in size and now has several products in production, and many more on their design board, it remains a very hands-on labor of love for both partners," the site continues about the company leadership. "Brandon [Williams] still touches every piece that emerges from the studio, and Marty [Young] is still directly involved in retailer, vendor, and customer interactions."