Excuse the irony, but that just seems … rather cold. 
I like fireplaces, and this current house has one that burns wood and gas. We chose this house for other reasons, the fireplace was just a nice extra feature. We don’t absolutely need it, usually, unless the power goes out in the dead of winter. But when we get cold snaps it’s nice to have a fire going in the den. My husband owns 44 acres of West Texas scrubland which he uses as a hunting range, and he brings home wood when he clears away dead trees and such. I insist that most of the mesquite be used in the grill, because I love the taste, but he brings home enough other wood that we usually don’t have to buy wood.
I love the smell of wood smoke, but I don’t want a fire when I’ve got pneumonia or bronchitis.
Oh dear. They do? I thougth examining the wood to make sure there are no critters left to meet a horrible fiery death would be sufficient, but…damn, so fire places are another thing I can’t ethically allow anymore.
At least, with an open fire, critters have a chance to get away. In a closed fireplace, not.
We have a large wood burning fireplace in our living room.
Pros:
[ul]
[li]Great place for a mantle.[/li][li]Beautiful stonework motif.[/li][li]Heat during a power outage.[/li][li]Party fires are nice.[/li][li]Kids can roast marshmallows indoors.[/li][/ul]
Cons:
[ul]
[li]Only really use once or twice a year.[/li][li]One time I forgot to open the flue.[/li][li]PIA to clean.[/li][li]Not really energy efficient.[/li][/ul]
Actually, one advantage to a fireplace is having a use for trees that fall and need disposed of.
Not a particularly good point, considering smoke is not an allergen.
Not only that, but a fireplace that draws correctly has virtually zero smoke smell.
I have two fireplaces in my house. I only use the one in the living room, and not often, because I don’t want even a small amount of smoke damaging all my original art work.
I have one-never use it. Its dirty, and smelly-and not efficient. If you have one, put in a sealed stove with a glass door-that way you get the heat and light, and not the smoke and soot. If I were to buy a new house, I’d buy a house without a fireplace.
We have a wood-burning fireplace in our house in NC which is just a total waste of space IMHO. I think we have used it a total of two times in 7 years and the rest of the time it has just taken up wall space, had water damage around the cap on the “chimney”, and probably increased our heating bills via air infiltration through the flue.
But as stated upthread, you’re doing it wrong if you actually have smoke belching into your house.
A good firebox, with a blower to vent the heat into the house, and glass doors is very efficient and really does a good job of heating the space. You don’t need smoke to get the nice aroma of burning wood. Clean-up is minimal if there’s an ash drawer (don’t know the correct term) so as the fire burns down all the ash settles into the drawer. Pull out drawer, dispose of ash in a covered metal container, done.
Some buggage and popping insects is inevitable, though. 
No matter how careful you are. Although since most fire-burning is done in the dead of winter, I never found the insect factor to be common.
We have been heating exclusively with our wood stove this winter (we live in Maine). It is messy, bringing in the wood and cleaning out the ashes, but it’s soooo cozy and pretty and much cheaper than heating with oil. I would not buy a house that I intended to stay in long-term that did not have a wood-burning fireplace or wood stove.
I grew up in a house with a fireplace, and it was very nice on cold winter days. Of course, I do like the smell of burning wood. If you don’t like wood smoke, then I doubt you should go for one.
Everybody in my neighborhood has one. Heck, unless you’re talking about apartments/condons, I can’t think of a house that doesn’t have a fireplace. This is New England, after all 
We have one. We never used it when I was growing up because my mother had a very real fear of fire, but my husband and I have used it a handful of times. When we realized the chimney hadn’t been cleaned in a while, we stopped. We also don’t know what happened to the cast iron ash drop door (seriously, there’s a black hole at the back of fire area), so I’m forbidding any kind of fire in there now.
Our neighbor gifted us maybe a half cord of wood when he moved. We’re still working through it, which tells you how often we’ve used it. And yes, I lug logs into the house 
To hijack for a moment: I cannot, for the life of me, find the exit door for the ash drop. Most houses have a clean-out spot either outside our down in the basement. Our chimney goes straight through the middle of the house, and I cannot find a clean out spot anywhere around the base in the basement, unless it’s hidden by the oil burner? I’ve shined a flashlight back there and don’t see anything looking like a door…
Heated exclusively with wood for about 15 years. And I live in a area where below 0 F is common.
Anyway, after blowing through about 6 cords a year for so long, we switch to a propane stove. It sure is nice to have a thermostat, but I do miss the natural wood. Though when you burn that much wood, it ends up making a real mess. And stocking that much wood is a big job. Even if you buy it.
Maybe there isn’t one? My parent’s very old house has a fireplace, but just a grate, no ash drawer/drop. It has to be swept out (now, that IS messy.)
Same with ours. We always had to scoop them out. The fireplace tool set we had included a little shovel for doing just that.
I love backing my butt up to a nice wood fire. There is no heat like wood heat. I love the crackles and pops and they are so cozy to snuggle by.
BUT…as a kid I had to help with the wood cutting, splitting, hauling and stacking. Then as an adult I had to deal not only with all that, but actually building the fire, tending it, and cleaning out and hauling the ashes outside. There is so much work and so much mess that comes with using one. Then you have to get it inspected and cleaned regularly so you don’t burn the house down.
I won’t own one myself again. Our current house has a gas fireplace, but we have the gas disconnected and we have it blocked off because it’s vented to the outside and we were losing our heated/cooled air through it.
I’ve always lived in houses with fireplaces, and I think they’re nice on winter evenings. I’m perfectly happy to have a good quality gas log instead of burning wood though. Wood is too messy to be worth it. Our current house has a gas log with a convincing-looking flame, and we love it.
When my husband’s audio business hits the big time and we buy a multi-million dollar beach house in Malibu, I want one of those gas fireplaces that is eight or ten feet long, across one whole end of a room. I hope they have chilly nights in Malibu.
I love fireplaces and would love to have one, and I like the smell of wood smoke, but unfortunately it gives me a migraine. So the best of both worlds would be to have a great old Craftsman house with a fireplace with a Grueby or Batchelder tile surround and a great oak mantel, and have it retrofitted with gas without damaging the integrity of the original. I can dream, can’t I?
So, what are you going to back your butt up against for heat, now?