Old unused fireplace, want to repair and use

[BurningBlue]

We are inheriting the family beach house(i.e. buying from estate) Very little winter use.
My father bought it in the early 1970s and rebuilt almost all of the house from the sills up. It is about a hundred years old and the chimney goes up the center of the house .The one thing he never touched was the chimney and fireplace.
He had just covered it with plywood and a decorative screen.
Now I am looking for information or ideas as to what I can to to make it usable.
It contains 3 flues I believe, one for fireplace, and kitchen stove(venting old stove?) and gas furnace.
I need to have the furnace flue lined and also make use of the fireplace in some manner.
The fireplace has no damper or even a smoke shelf and is a straight line up the chimney(no liner or tiles just brick)
The front of the fireplace needs a rebuild.
I did have someone look and his best suggestion is to line the fireplace with stainless and a small wood insert.
The flue is a strange size looks about 7" x14" was his guess but may not fit a 6" insulated liner.
I would hate to seal it and make it a candle holder.
P.s. I hate people who paint brick.
I will post 2 pics, any suggestions appreciated

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[begreen]

The chimney will need to be fully cleaned first. Then, an oval, insulated liner will work. A good installer can do this on-site by ovalizing a flexible liner. Or there is DuraVent's DuraLiner system which is available in oval and preinsulated. DuraLiner for a 6" insert will be 7 3/4" x 4 3/4". They make an oval-to-round section to return to round for the insert connection.

 

[BurningBlue]

Thanks, that is a specific answer and good to know. I am going to try to measure the flue this weekend to see what exactly I am dealing with. This is going to be a long term investment and probably won't be doing anything until this time next year. Does anyone have recommendations for wood inserts, I could check out? (I read Regency has smaller piping?) It's easy to google things but better to get first hand recommendations.

 

[begreen]

It's hard to suggest anything without more details. What are the full dimensions of the fireplace inside, front and back and depth? Is this a one, two-story tall chimney?

Is this for occasional fires or for 24/7 heating? How large of an area would be heated and how well insulated is it?

 

[BurningBlue]

Wow I didn't expect you to be so detailed. It is a 2 story house and they said 35' liner to top of chimney. It will mostly be used on occasion and not as a primary heat source. Ideally like to heat the first floor which is mostly open and less than 1000 sq ft.
Walls are all knotty pine wood 3/4" thick and insulated so I would say well insulated.
I understand set backs to combustibles and will take that into consideration. there is a lot of rebuilding involved , just asking for stove recommendations at this point so I can look into things in the meantime.
This is mostly for bringing back the chimney and fireplace into a useful and good looking center place of the room. I don't need a large unit but would like something of quality. I will get multiple measurements this weekend of the flue and fire box area. Thanks again

 

[begreen]

A 35' liner is going to present issues with a strong draft. That will limit choices unless the installer can fit a draft damper directly above the insert.