Moberg Fireplaces: Integrating Artistry and Technology

Moberg Fireplaces, Inc. (MFI) is the premier custom fireplace design company in the world today, integrating imaginative artistry and modern technology for both contemporary and classical fireplaces. A unique professional practice, MFI has provided services for forty-two years, designing and fabricating custom fireplaces and chimneys. As consultants to architects, designers, builders, and clients, MFI has created successful fireplace installations across twenty-four time zones, from Hong Kong to Switzerland. Our special expertise derives from mastering the design, fabrication, and commissioning of unparalleled installations combining fire and art. MFI’s work can be found in the world’s finest private residences, as well as in premium hotels and lodges on four continents.

Walter Moberg Custom Fireplace Designer

Walter Moberg, founder and president of Moberg Fireplaces, has headed design teams for both custom-built and manufactured fireplaces, representing over four thousand installations worldwide. Serving the architectural community in particular, Mr. Moberg is a key consultant to clients during design, and builders during construction. Over the decades, he has addressed and helped clients solve challenging fireplace programs and achieved their designer’s visions. Many programs have required unique applications of exotic fireplace materials, using glass, metals, and stone, as well as challenging operational requirements. Some projects have required long or circuitous chimneys, while others demanded tremendous firebox openings or incorporated fragile materials. All have involved either real wood-burning or simulated gas-fire operations. His custom systems for applications in complex and sophisticated settings have set the standard for modern, advanced-technology fireplaces.

Mr. Moberg holds a degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from Princeton University (1974). Moberg Fireplaces holds patents on functional fireplace designs as well as copyrights for unique and proprietary components developed specifically for custom solutions. He is a longstanding member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art (ICAA), advancing the knowledge of and appreciation for the rich history of classical fireplace design.

A former president of the Wood Heating Education & Research Foundation (HEARTH), Mr. Moberg also has three decades of experience testing and listing advanced fireplace products to American UL and ANSI standards, in addition to international EU standards. He is a member of the Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association (HPBA), the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), and the ASTM E06 subcommittee for masonry fireplaces and heaters. In each of these associations, Mr. Moberg has been instrumental in advancing safety and improving the technology of custom fireplaces and their chimneys.

Early Moberg Crayolas

So many people ask me: “How did you get so interested in fireplaces?” and so these “early Moberg crayolas” tell a lot. I hope you enjoy them and see the obvious answers.

Some years ago, my sister found two crayon drawings in a folder my mother had saved since my childhood. I had forgotten that at a very early age (4…5?), I was already producing drawings of fireplaces. I was fascinated with fire and my folks let me build fires in the family’s fireplaces.

In image 1, I drew a chimney during a flue fire. I had seen a similar fire in our neighborhood, which the fire department must have extinguished using a ladder to the top of the chimney. Forty years later, I became president of the Wood Heating Education and Research Foundation and illustrated safety manuals that are still used to guide installers and chimney sweeps today.

Walter Moberg fireplace crayola drawing of chimney fire
Walter Moberg fireplace crayola drawing of chimney fire

In image 1, I drew a chimney during a flue fire. I had seen a similar fire in our neighborhood, which the fire department must have extinguished using a ladder to the top of the chimney. Forty years later, I became president of the Wood Heating Education and Research Foundation and illustrated safety manuals that are still used to guide installers and chimney sweeps today.

early moberg fireplace crayola drawing 2

In image 2, I drew a fireplace on the upper floor of a house, where the flue took a jog through the roof. Not sure why I did that…but there is also an outline of a black intake vent at the peak…apparently, an early appreciation of the need for make-up air? Surely, I didn’t know how ironic and apropos that would be for my future life—placing fireplaces at the tops of skyscrapers and running flues out their sides.

More stories will come in future editions: depending on fire for survival in the wilderness, as well as the opportunity to assist the Ministry of Culture in France, to restore the grand fireplaces of Versailles!

Stay tuned, and buy your children crayolas!