There's a generation of Vancouver homes built around a beautiful masonry fireplace that, by today's standards, can no longer be lit. Metro Vancouver's emission rules have effectively retired the open hearth. The Stûv 16-In is the wood-burning insert that brings them back — because it's EPA-certified to the standard those regulations actually allow.

Stûv is a Belgian company that has spent more than forty years engineering wood stoves with the quiet discipline you find in good European architecture — no decorative flourishes, no fussy details, no shortcuts. The 16-In takes that engineering and adapts it to fit inside an existing masonry firebox. Your stone surround stays. Your mantel stays. Your room keeps its character. What changes is what's burning inside.

The 16-In is one of the few high-end wood-burners that clears Metro Vancouver's bar. EPA-certified to the emissions standard the local regulations require — meaning you can register it, install it, and burn in it legally. And it's manufactured in Canada — short lead times, parts on this continent, the kind of post-installation service Stûv is known for. You're not waiting six months for a stove from Belgium.

Three sizes — small, medium, and large — match the range of existing masonry openings, from a tight reading-room hearth to a generous great-room firebox. All three carry the largest viewing window in their class, so the flame is what you see and almost everything else is mechanical anonymity behind the glass.

Despite the restraint, the 16-In is a serious heater. Efficient combustion, slow even burn, real BTU output that actually warms a room. Stûv's engineering has always been about doing more with less; the 16-In does it without raising its voice.

At Maxwell we treat retrofitting a masonry fireplace with a Stûv 16-In as one of the more rewarding projects we take on — an old hearth, a regulated city, and a way to bring them back into use. From measuring the firebox through permitting (Metro Vancouver's paperwork is real) through lining, installation, and finishing, every step is handled in-house. One conversation, one team, one Creative FireSpace™ that's both new and old at the same time.