–SOLD TO TARA E on 12/06/2017–
–Please do not add to cart. We should have a few somewhat similar beams available. Please contact us via antiqueww@gmail.com for a complete list of available mantels. Thanks! —

Here is a simple, circle sawn reclaimed wood white barn beam fireplace mantel. It has this unmatched, deep, rich dark patina complimented by some old nail holes, nails, and cracks. This is the real deal.

The color of this beam is natural. Yes, natural. White oak has tannin in the wood that interacts with ammonia in the barn creating this natural dark color that is up to 1/4inch deep. On the end photos, you can see how deep the coloring has penetrated over the course of a century or more. Gustav Stickley used an ammonia tent on his original white oak furniture to achieve this great warm color. Oddly enough, the sapwood (the layer just below the bark) does not have tannin and does not naturally darken. The upper left of this mantel has a tiny bit of sapwood remaining. (okay.. we cheated a little bit on this one and toned up the sapwood to match the rest of the beam better).

The beam was one of a dozen or so posts in the lower level milking parlor that supported the rest of the barn. As such, it has lots of nail holes and character to attest to its history.

This mantel beam came from an early 1900s vintage barn near Southwest Wisconsin — out in the beautiful rolling hills. It is always nice to head out to this part of the country. You still see lots of small family farms with animals still out in the pasture. It is a welcome relief from the industrial farming that we see in our parts.

We have applied one coat of hardwax oil. We’ll apply another coat of finish on this mantel beam before it ships. It will turn the gloss up just a notch, but keep a nice natural feel.

This beam is priced at $100/LF. We can cut the beam down to any length and reduce the price by $8.33 per inch, up to a maximum discount of $100. This beam ships via FedEx for our flat rate price of $65.

The tag is an old Dick Tracy cartoon from 1949. We find old newspapers and magazines in some of these houses. We keep some interesting ones aside to make our mantel tags. It’s much easier to find “Dick Tracy” than item 12345abc.