Sold to Taylor in Danville, Illinois (IL)
December 9, 2018

This is a nice log cabin fireplace mantel made from an original settler cabin dating back to the late 1800s. This red oak piece has wonderful character, color, and history. There are also some nice dark hues around the cracks and knots. The front has a smooth face with a couple of knots and some nice cracks to add character.  The top and bottom show original ax marks from when the settler hand hewed a tree into a usable beam. Nice color variation from light to dark throughout this mantel. The top is darker than the bottom. The top was probably the outside of the cabin and the lighter color was probably the inside of a cabin. This is indeed the real thing.

This mantel beam also has a great history. It came from an old Norwegian log home near Lanesboro, Minnesota. The Nyhus family settled in Fillmore county in 1880s. The story goes that the house was originally further up the bluff. The farmer was tired of bringing his cows down from the top of the bluff to the river, so they moved the house down the bluff quite a ways. It was an unusual treat to get a picture of the original settler family. Note the family photo is that of the original Nyhus Family.

There is also a little blog post on our site regarding the newspapers articles that we found insulating the walls of the old house.

This piece is currently cut at 62in long, but the right end tapers quickly. It may be a better 57in piece. We can cut and re-size at no charge. We calculated the price based on 60in long at $100/LF. Shipping runs $75 via FedEx Gnd.

Note, with the less-than-average depth on this piece, it may be helpful to install this one with a backer board (something like a modern 2×6) so that none of the good wood gets buried into the stonework.

The Tag: Fordoielse. This is from an 1880s newspaper that was attached to the wall of this old cabin. Back then, there were many newspapers that served non-English readers such as German and a generic Scandinavian dialect. Sometimes the local English papers would have bi-lingual advertisements. This advertisement is for some sort of pharmacy medicine for digestive ailments. The imagery is of an old pharmacist. The word Fordoielse is close to the Norwegian for the digestive system.