Wood Stove vs. Insert: Simple Advantages, Drawbacks

I bought a 1,500 sq ft, 1 1/2 story bungalow style home in Omaha, NE in June 2011 and was told that the chimney was in good shape. I didn't have it checked until last week, and turns out... the liner is cracked and coming apart in several places. I was told "this will not operate as designed, you should not use this fireplace." Bummer.

So I would like to get the fireplace functioning again, and the options that were described were:
- repair the chimney and have it sealed, ~$100/ft * 20ft = $2,000
- get an insert with an insulated stainless liner

I'm a home residential energy professional, so most of my colleagues would rather see all the chimneys sealed up completely. I want to be able to have a warm inviting fire in my living room when guests are over, and as long as I'm consuming energy I might as well have some functional heat in my home. I have a 95% efficiency closed-combustion furnace which works very well to heat the home, so this is NOT designed to be a whole-home heating system.

I prefer the look of a free standing wood stove, sitting just in front of the 1920's masonry fireplace. My partner doesn't like the look of a stove standing in front, she says "it looks like it was added on later." Can people help get me some information to help us resolve this decision?

Here are a couple of the options I was considering:

Hearth Stone - Homestead
http://www.hearthstonestoves.com/wood-stoves/stove-details?product_id=19

Harman - Oakleaf
http://www.harmanstoves.com/Products/Oakleaf-Wood-Stove.aspx

Thanks for your help, I expect to learn a great deal more while I'm here.

Eric

Thanks begreen, that's excellent.

I think the free standing aspect is the non-desirable feature, so I'll be looking for inserts that don't seem cheap and... quite frankly like they'll fall apart in 10-20 years. My house and fireplace have been around for 90+ years, there's no reason I shouldn't expect the same performance.

That Aldera T5 does actually look very nice, and I found Fireplace By Design as a local show room, so I'll plan to head down there and check it out in person this weekend. I've sent along those details to my partner (girlfriend feels a little immature), so I'll let you know what she says when she takes a look at some of these new options.

If anyone has clear advantage / drawbacks for a stove vs. insert, I'd be interested to discuss those with her as well.

As far as the rest of the house, it's 6" walls that are currently un-insulated, and the test-in CFM50 3,600. I did some minor air sealing in areas where there was noticeable draft, but my next priority is to get all the electrical upgraded (there's a breaker panel, but everything is non-grounded) so I can go back with injection foam insulation all the way around the first floor. Eventually I'll probably end up with an energy recovery ventilator, but that's several projects away.

Very much appreciated.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

jatoxico & Gazing,
I'm interested in something that sits out about as far into the room as possible, to allow for maximum radiant heating. My masonry fireplace is to the south end of my living room, and the traffic flow wouldn't be bothered by even a free standing stove. I'll get some pictures of the living room posted soon, I've been a little behind on that so far...

rideau,
I found ICC - RSF with several different models shown, http://www.icc-rsf.com/en/rsf-woodburning-fireplaces. Those are all nice, but it seems like they would require additional work to get them to match existing masonry. Most of the photos there show what seems to be custom construction for just that single purpose. Have you seen one of these in person, or know of any insert-type installations?

As an update, my partner is doing a good job discussing her desires for this type of work. She isn't thrilled about anything that "looks like a log cabin" (essentially doesn't like the free standing stoves), but we're looking at lots of different models so the discussion is progressing quite well.