How do I make a 1970s floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace look modern?
In Leicester, many rural properties run propane and some remote homes have limited electrical capacity — so the standout update puts a radiant gas unit that needs zero electricity behind the modernized stone. Limewash or reface the 1970s wall as you like, but a millivolt fireplace like the Valor H5 keeps throwing heat even with the grid and the wiring against you.
Heat that doesn't depend on the wires
Out on Leicester's big rural lots, wood heat is popular and a fair number of properties have limited electrical capacity, so a fireplace that leans on a blower and a circuit board isn't the best bet. A radiant, millivolt gas unit — no blower, no circuit board, running on propane — throws steady warmth without drawing on the wiring, and keeps working through a full grid-down stretch.
That makes it a natural heart for a remodeled stone wall on a home where the power, and the electrical panel, can't be counted on.
The face, the fuel, the permit
For the stone itself, the routes are the familiar three — a mineral wash to mute the busy 1970s color, a reface over the existing wall, or a full rebuild. Leicester is mixed-fuel but leans propane on these rural lots, and cold-air drainage runs the valleys five to eight degrees colder than Asheville on clear nights, so real heat matters.
We pull the Buncombe County permit, pressure-test the propane line, and meet the inspector — licensed work no handyman can legally do. Fifteen minutes from our Asheville showroom.
Or keep it wood, off-grid entirely
If you'd rather not run a gas line at all — reasonable on a remote lot — a modern EPA-certified wood insert behind the new stone is the fully grid-independent option: heat you own outright, no fuel line, no wiring, no utility. A Regency-style wood insert burns clean and holds an overnight fire. Between that and a no-electricity propane unit, Leicester homeowners have two solid paths to a fireplace that works no matter what the power or the panel is doing that week. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.
Fireplace help in Leicester
We install and service fireplaces throughout Leicester and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.