Sold to David E from Rochester, MN – 10/10/2018
We have a few more from this same batch. Please contact us with your specific needs. Thanks!

This reclaimed mantel beam exhibits classic old hand hewing from the 1800s before portable sawmills were widely available in the area. All of the texture is from an early settler swinging an ax to make a round log into a square beam. This mantel is the real thing.

The front face and bottom are both hand hewn. The top has been cut smooth to clean the beam up. While it has a large crack running across the top, this mantel is very stable. That crack is probably over 100 years old from when the beam originally dried down from a green log. The smooth top surface provides a nice area for your season decorations and family photos. Depending on the height of your mantel, the top may or may not be particularly visible. We’ve also seen people mount the flat side down when resting on a brick fireplace.

While we usually try not to stain our mantels, this one has color created by an old secret technique that was used for antiquing long ago. It is nice because it does not create an overly uniform color, but instead provides some nice color variations ranging from goldenrod to bronze to gingerbread.

This mantel beam came from an early 1900s vintage barn between Waconia, MN and Cologne, MN. This particular beam was almost 20 feet long and resting in the milking parlor. It was probably recovered from another nearby barn. These towns are about 40 miles SW of Minneapolis downtown. This is the current edge of modern farm country in these parts. Once upon a time before the suburbs, farm country was much closer to Minneapolis downtown. The soil here is still rich and runs black as deep as three feet. Once upon a time, this was the Western edge of what was referred to as the Big Woods. If you have ever read Laura Ingalls Wilder books, you’ll see references to this very woods.

We can cut this one shorter and refinish the ends at no charge. It can be shipped anywhere in the lower 48 states via FedEx Gnd for $75.

The Tag — Honey Grahams and Milk. Sunshine brand sugar Honey Grahams advertisement from the late 1940s or early 1950s.