Ahhh, so perhaps you have a newer natural gas-fired furnace that vents out the side of the house? Could the water heater be vented so as well?
The chimney bricks could be re-purposed for other construction and the chimney column space reclaimed for living/storage. Still, the brick visible in the kitchen photo is rather handsome...
These comments are in no way intended to minimize what I see as a clever and cool project.
I've entertained side-venting my heating unit and water heater to reclaim the space now occupied by the chimney. Tongue-in-cheek, I tell my my wife we could turn the chimney into a clothes chute...
