–SOLD to Ron B on Oct 3, 2017–
–We have some other raw material on hand, but it will take us a while to work one up.–
— Please contact us if you’re interested. Thanks! —

Here’s a gorgeous, naturally dark, white oak fireplace mantel with lots of character. White oak starts out as a wheatish tan but can become nearly java black in a barn environment. The top and bottom of this mantel required some moderate sanding but left behind this great deep, rich color. The top also sports some nice old cracking as well as lots of old bug trails. (the mantel has been kiln treated, so no need to worry). The bottom shows off some nice character as well as traditional wood grains.

But the front face is where all the action is. Much of the front face has rotted away. We chiseled, dug, brushed, and sanded and then we chiseled, dug, brushed, and sanded some more. The result is this great texture accented with nail holes and worm trails.

This particular piece was a sill timber from an old barn. It was a big beam that rested on the cement or stone wall foundation upon which they built the rest of the barn. You can imagine it was pretty wet right near the ground. They used white oak for sill timbers and fence posts back in the day because it has a good natural rot resistance. The wood was probably sawn on-site with a mill somewhat like the one pictured.

This mantel beam came from an early 1900s vintage barn between Norwood, MN and Green Isle, MN. About 40 miles SW of Minneapolis downtown. This is the beginning of modern farm country West of the Twin cities. The soil here is rich and black and runs black as deep as three feet. This was the Western edge of the Big Woods if you are familiar with the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. The barn roof had caved in during the winter of 2015. Our old friend, Harry, who is in his 60s salvaged what he could from the old barn before the rest was burned to the ground.

This mantel beam is priced at $105 per LF at 57 inches. We can cut to any size, but the price on this one is firm. It can be shipped via FedEx Gnd for $65. If you’d like it cut down, please contact us at antiqueww@gmail.com or call 612-281-9330.

The Tag — This ad was from the Minneapolis Star in the 1950s, I believe. It’s been a long time since you could get a mortgage for only $85 a month. You can also notice the telephone numbers are listed as “HY 1092” also known as “Hyatt 1092” which meant “49-1092” or “WA 6378” for “WHitehall 6378” which meant “94-6378.”