And what about the arched-topped space seen at the base of the ca. 1812 chimney stack? Most visitors to Montpelier commonly assume that the space is actually a fireplace, but on closer inspection they find that the "fireplace" doesn't have a flue to carry away the smoke. What is its purpose then? The arched space was used to minimize the number of bricks need to build the chimney.  Additionally, brick supports would often also be built into the sides of these arched openings to support shelf boards, allowing the arches to be efficiently used as storage spaces.