Most of the Neo-Romanian style houses and palaces were built before the gas central heating era and had to be provided with classic stove and fireplace installations designed for wood, or in rarer instances coal, burning. Therefore, the chimney stack is a very visible element within the edifice assembly and there are examples in Bucharest of spectacular chimneys designed in specific Neo-Romanian shapes. The photograph above shows three such house artefacts, which although are somehow more modest in size and decoration, nevertheless are very suggestive for the Neo-Romanian style applied for chimney design. The main architectural source of inspiration seems to be the old Ottoman kitchen chimney examples that between c17th and late c19th embellished the aristocratic houses and mansions of Bucharest and southern Romania.
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I endeavor through this daily series of images and small articles to inspire appreciation of the historic houses of Romania, a virtually undiscovered, but fascinating chapter of European architectural history and heritage.
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If you plan acquiring a historic property in Romania or start a renovation project, I would be delighted to advice you in sourcing the property, specialist research, planning permissions, restoration project management, etc. To discuss your particular plan please see my contact details in the Contact page of this weblog.
Valentin Mandache, architectural historian 
*Intrigued* They look like owls.
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The strange owl shape is probably an Art Nouveau-like outline. The Neo-Romanian style was developed within the wider late c19th early 20th Art Nouveau national romantic movement in architecture.
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