My first foray into the wood stove world started last December when I decided that those lazy dead trees in my yard were going to make themselves useful and serve as fuel to keep my wife's feet warm. So after some searching, I decided that cheapest was best, and went with the lackluster standard square model at the local Home Depot. If I had known about Steve Pacheco earlier, I can guarantee you that one of his period stoves would have found its way into my 1849 farm house(shed?). I photographed The Barnstable Stove Shop for the latest issue of Cape Cod Life HOME, and came away with some of my favorite photographs all summer. Outside, awesome heaps of detailed iron, rusted out and looking for some TLC. Inside, the finished product, completely refinished and ready for installation. The natural light shining in on these old stove parts made for some nice graphic images. Steve was a sport as well, posing for me in the doorway of his shop with a White Lightning and umbrella, 
hidden behind that big sliding door, giving him that rim lighting which makes him pop from the black background of the inside of the barn. Examining the detail of these stoves helps me understand why someone would bother restoring an old stove as opposed to just getting a new one. Steve breathes new life into stoves that were made over a hundred years ago as close by as Taunton. When compared to my anachronistic square box with lovely gold trim from Home Depot, it pains me to think that for a couple hundred dollars more I could have had a beautiful little potbelly (beside from the one I sport under my shirt) built in the same time period as my house, while at the same time helping a local artisan get rid of some inventory! Oh well. Regardless of what stove I'm using, I still have a lot of wood stacking to do, and maybe that will help get rid of a potbelly of my own.You can read all about Steve and his stoves in this issue of Cape and Islands HOME .
