After Stahl Firepit founder Chad Hughes and his wife remodeled their backyard, Hughes sought a fire pit to complete the couple’s contemporary design. Hughes knew he wanted a small fire pit that he would be able to move—most designs on the market are welded and ponderous. So, four years ago, Hughes went to the drawing board, constructed a wooden model of his dream fire pit, and brought it to a local steel fabricator. 

Hughes may not fit the bill of a traditionally trained designer, but having grown up in Yosemite National Park, he certainly knows a thing or two about campfires. He describes his boyhood as “humble” and his home as “extremely rural,” so if he wanted anything he would have to get creative.

“I was innovative, I would just create my own thing and make it work,” he says. Hughes designed the first Stahl fire pit to fit his own needs—and his friends and family took note, asking for sleek steel fire pits of their own.

Stahl's line includes three fire pits: Stahl Firepit is the largest, the Patio Pit is midsized (a perfect fit for an urban patio), and the Camper—a lightweight aluminum fire pit fit for any camping adventure.

Each pit is made in Portland, built to last, and easy to assemble, with five precisely cut pieces that fit together seamlessly. Hughes handpicks each piece of quarter-inch steel, and notes that it weathers with “a beautiful patina that matures in character as it ages.”

When Hughes envisions the Stahl consumer, he considers the outdoor lifestyle that so many Oregonians enjoy: “beach camping and drinking—having a fire pit allows you to have that communal ambiance in nature.”