Hearth Talk

Walter Goodridge was a pioneer in the 1970’s resurgence of wood burning. Living in the Pioneer Valley of Western Ma., Walter started burning wood stoves and decided to look into manufacturing one. His travels took him to Denmark where he discovered Lange Stoves, a 100+ year old brand which was still being made by hand. Walter decided to import these stoves, and brought over 10,000 units into the USA during the 1976 to 1980 time period, at which time he stopped importing them. On one of his trips to Denmark, he was introduced to the people at HS Tarm boilers. As a result, he started importing Tarm boilers into the USA via a new corporation, Tekton, which was located in Conway, Ma. Walter sold the HS Tarm business to Alan Koenig in 1981 and did not re-enter the stove or boiler biz. To this day (2008), he still burns the first Lange stove he imported to heat his house – AND, he also uses a Tarm high efficiency wood boiler to heat.