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Photo submitted by KIRK DOOLEY

Tom Goodson, a 1976 graduate of Highland Park High School, has invented a movable, backyard fireplace called the Chimney Box.

Kirk Dooley

Published: 30 November 2013 11:04 AM

Updated: 30 November 2013 11:04 AM

Sitting around a campfire at his deer lease in West Texas one night, Tom Goodson started daydreaming about bringing the ambiance, brightness, relaxation and warmth of the campfire to his backyard in Dallas.

Backyard fireplaces are stationary and expensive. Fire bowls can’t control smoke and send the heat straight upward. Chimineas are small and throw off little heat.

Goodson used his ad agency design skills, his commercial real estate sales savvy and his investment banking background to visualize the perfect movable backyard fireplace and the start-up company that would sell it. Once he had the ideal product in his mind, he needed to invent it. With the help of Google SketchUp and an industrial arts patent attorney, the Chimney Box became a reality.

Goodson, a 1976 graduate of Highland Park High School, spent time in New York City as an art director with a large advertising agency after graduating from University of Texas. To this day, he still sketches his ideas, and feels that the Chimney Box is the best one he has ever come up with.

The Chimney Box is a portable fireplace made out of 1/4 inch, 1/8 inch and 14-gauge steel. It is a triangular-shaped firebox that, because of its proprietary design, burns wood more efficiently and cleanly. It weighs 150 lbs. and the chimney tops out at 72 inches. It has two steel wheels, so it can be tilted and moved easily.

“The Chimney Box throws heat and controls smoke better than other outdoor wood-burning appliances,” Goodson said. “It is also easier to set, start and clean than the traditional fire bowl, fire pit or chiminea. An interior baffle allows the smoke to be burned twice like in a catalytic converter in a car so there is less smoke coming out of the chimney.”

Goodson created a website,

thechimneybox.com, and sells his product directly to the public. The cost of $1,499 includes shipping.

“Chimney boxes are manufactured here in Texas, not China, so we stand by our quality,” Goodson said. “And we have a special Dallas discount because I can deliver them myself.”

And a propane adapter is now available through a Colorado manufacturer for those who prefer gas fires.

The first Chimney Boxes delivered are getting rave reviews.

“We have four Chimney Boxes on the patio of Rodeo Goat, our new burger joint in Fort Worth,” Shannon Wynne said. “The boxes have kept patrons eating and drinking in the chilly weather. We’re huge fans of the design, the heat and the ambiance it creates.”

The Rustic, Pat Green’s new Uptown restaurant and outdoor concert venue, created in partnership with FreeRange Concepts, has four Chimney Boxes set up around the perimeter and they add to the outdoor Hill Country ambiance of this popular, new Dallas hangout.

That’s what Goodson envisioned as he sat around that West Texas campfire. But he was picturing his family and friends enjoying a Chimney Box in his Highland Park backyard. At The Rustic, he’s already got 1,000 Dallasites a week enjoying his creation.

Ambiance mission accomplished.