Back in the day, builders usually hunted down nice straight, character-free logs for their cabins — easier to work with, easier to stack. This one clearly didn’t get the memo, and honestly, we love it for that. It’s got a wonderful amount of natural flow and curve running down its length, giving it a shape you just can’t get from a piece that was picked for being “perfect.”

Along the face you’ll find some great knots and beautiful color variation, the kind of character that only comes from nature and time. Flip to the top and bottom faces and you can still see original ax marks from the late 1800s — real hand-tool history, left exactly as it was made.

The full piece measures 88 inches, and there’s a dovetail notch on one end from its cabin-building days; many folks would want the end trimmed off for a cleaner mantel look, although it’s a neat detail if you’d rather keep it.

This one’s White Oak, too, which happens to be incredibly popular right now. Rustic, rare, and full of story.

Details

• This vintage white oak is shown as sanded, but no finish has been applied.
• We can preserve the current color or darken with some various techniques.
• Sizing (cutting and sanding the ends) as well as finishing are included in the price
• It is currently 6.5 inches tall x about 9ish inches deep once the back is cut flat.
• It is currently about 88in long with a good cut point at 80 inches or less. We can be cut down for no additional charge.
• For your entertainment, the photo collection includes a couple of “barn fresh” images.
• It ships via UPS Ground for $150

History – Gathered from a log home in Hart, Minnesota that’s stood for almost 150 years, about 45 minutes east of Rochester. We got lucky here — the original building family shared some old photos with us, and the property is still in their hands today. Fun bit of local history: back in 2018, the old general store in Hart, just a mile down the road from this cabin, held an amazing estate auction of its contents. I wish I could’ve been there for that one.

About the tag – BUYERS-EQUIPMENT advertisement. This advertisement is from the Joesting & Schilling Company, a St. Paul, Minnesota outfitter that supplied hotels and restaurants with everything from china to furnishings. Founded around 1920, the firm published large catalogs showcasing hotels it had equipped. This piece, likely from around 1925, captures the confident tone of trade advertising from that era. It’s likely the company didn’t survive far past the early-to-mid 1930s, possibly a casualty of the Great Depression, but I don’t have a solid source confirming exactly when they closed.