This natural colored hand-hewn white oak fireplace mantel boasts an original hand-hewn texture on the face and bottom. The original hewing on this mantel dates back to the late 1800s, a time when people used axes to shape round logs into square beams. It is amazing to think that this is the real thing from early American settlers. The top has been cut smooth to remove some issues. It makes for a nice flat shelf for displaying decorations, family photos, and other items.

This mantel is currently shown as sanded, but no finish applied. We can keep this color with a wax finish. You can also see a couple of pictures toward the end that show the mantel with mineral spirits splashed on it. We can achieve this color with our typical Rubio Monocoat finish. We’re happy to finish it up to your liking at no additional cost.

There is a mortise pocket that has been filled on the face — just some nice additional character. There are also some open peg holes that run from the top to the bottom. They originally held an adjoining beam in place. The left end has quite a bit of traces of bug activity from the past. That could have taken place any time in the past 140 years or so. We’ve also kiln-treated the mantel so just in case there were any leftover critters, they are gone now.

The original beam came from an old barn in Lowell, Wisconsin which is about 50 miles NW of Madison, Wisconsin. The barn probably dated back to the mid- to late-1800s. The country was generally settled from East to West, so we see older places in Eastern Wisconsin than we do around our workshop near Minneapolis, Minnesota.

We can cut this mantel shorter and refinish the ends for an additional for no additional cost.

It can be shipped anywhere in the lower 48 states via FedEx Gnd for $150

About the tag – Birdie Three is a playing card from a 1950s vintage set of Old Maid. These great old names are pretty amusing although some of these old sets are not particularly politically correct by today’s standards. In the end, they do represent a part of our American history.