hearth

an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a fire can be built; "the fireplace was so large you could walk inside it"; "he laid a fire in the hearth and lit it"; "the hearth was black with the charcoal of many fires"

home symbolized as a part of the fireplace; "driven from hearth and home"; "fighting in defense of their firesides"

an area near a fireplace (usually paved and extending out into a room); "they sat on the hearth and warmed themselves before the fire"