I can know of a few good times that a wood burning fireplace would be good to have; If it lived somewhere where it snowed a lot, I would be thrilled to have a wood burning fireplace in my house.
I like the idea of there being a centralized source of heating in the main room of the house, but a wood burning fireplace is not something that comes in every house. In my childhood home, my buddy and I had a wood burning fireplace, but growing up in a moderate region, my buddy and I did not have much use for it! My favorite time to make a fire was in the winter months around Christmas. Another good time for a fire is when it is raining outside. It is soothing to hang around a moderate fire while it rains outside! One of my favorite memories of my childhood would be thinking about Christmas day and the fire in the wood burning fireplace. My dad would regularly make a point of making us a fire on Christmas day, regardless of the weather outside. My associate and I live in a moderate weather conditions, so having a Christmas that is undoubtedly freezing is rare. One year I remember it being so moderate outside that my buddy and I undoubtedly went to the beach instead of making a fire. My associate and I made snowmen in the sand. I will regularly remember the warmth from the wood burning fireplace, especially during a rainy afternoon. My associate and I have an electric fireplace now that allows us to heat the condo without the smokey stink that a wood burning fireplace leaves behind.