Godin Wood Stove

Not sure if this can be considered an antique since they're still manufactured, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

It belonged to an ex-neighbour and it was once in pristine condition, with the exception of the missing tray on the bottom and the knob for the push-pull ash-grate. Many times when visiting I would openly covet it as it sat there proudly in her living room (used as an ornament).

Then one day she got the urge to paint everything white to brighten things up. And I mean everything - totally Shabby Chic... ACK! She even painted an heirloom antique dining room table and chair set. Not carefully prepared and painted - just paint slapped or sprayed on every which way.

When she moved she decided the stove was too heavy to take with her and she offered it to me - with an apology for having painted it white after seeing the error of her ways shortly after doing the deed.

Fortunately, due to the lack of prep-work and the use of cheap paint, all I had to do was get a roaring fire going inside and most of the paint melted or burned off. With the help of a steel brush the enameled metal shone through again.

I still have to remove all the enameled parts - which are fastened with rusted screw-bolts, so that's a challenge - and finish cleaning it up and then repaint the main part of the stove with black stove paint. I've also seen some photos showing the same stove with dark green paint which also looks nice but tends to clash a bit with the teal enamel colour.

I intend to use it as a faux-stove in my future Victorian/Edwardian room project (complete with faux-stovepipe to the wall) and then put a flickering light inside to create the fireside mood through the glass panels on the door. Although I may also use the Petit Godin (a smaller oval version) that I've also posted.

These woodstoves can be fuel-loaded from the front and the top. The enameled metal top is a hinged lid which lifts to reveal a more traditional top-loading stove cover, which could also be used to cook on. It measures 37"h x 21"w x 21"d.

The stove isn't CSA (Canadian Standards Association) approved so I couldn't legally use it as a wood-burner inside the house, although I could in an outbuilding like a shed or workshop - which is where it might end up if the smaller one comes inside.