Ortal: Wilderness Front Facing 31H

The Five-Foot Log Fire

Five feet of wood fire on a wall only 31 inches wide.

Who it’s for

Plenty of rooms don’t have a wide wall to give a fireplace—what they have is a tall, narrow stretch that never quite gets used. You need a fire that runs tall instead of wide, and still reads as burning wood, not an appliance. If you want the fire to be the focal point of the room without hauling logs or tending anything, this is your fireplace. A standard-height unit on that wall leaves the space above the flame empty; the Wilderness Front Facing 31H fills it with five feet of flame and ceramic logs.

Quick facts

• Viewing area: 31″ wide × 65″ tall
• Fuel: natural gas or propane
• Controls: handheld remote included; app and wall-switch control optional

What makes it special

Most gas fireplaces stretch the fire sideways. The 31H turns it on end: the glass runs 31 inches wide and 65 inches tall, so the flames climb through the logs in a column of fire more than five feet high—visible from every seat in the room, and from the next room over.

The fire itself comes from Ortal’s Wilderness burner, built to give gas the look of a real hearth fire: flames rising through detailed ceramic logs, in your choice of five log styles, rather than hovering over glass or stone. It’s still gas underneath—the remote starts it, adjusts it, and shuts it down, with no ash to sweep and no wood to stack.

Possible downsides

• The Double Glass front runs on household electricity and will not operate during a power outage.
• App and wall-switch control are optional add-ons; the standard control is the handheld remote.

If you want the presence of a real wood fire on a wall that runs tall instead of wide, the Wilderness Front Facing 31H is the right decision. The fire is the first thing anyone sees from the front door—and the reason everyone ends up in that room.

Make it yours with five log styles—Dark Brown, Chopped Wood, Driftwood, Valley Oak, or Birch—in natural gas or propane, finished with your choice of front: a fine mesh screen that nearly disappears, or a double-glass front.