The Fireplace Mantle

We are trying to get a picture of the original mantle. It was supposedly very ornate and matched the 1/4 sawn oak trim and corinthian columns in our stairway. It is missing, and there are two areas of thought. It was either stolen or the old man who owned the home and may have had some dementia, let it go some how.

In any case it was not there when we bought the house:

During Thanksgiving, we traveled to see some friends up in Monument, near Colorado Springs and we went looking for a mantle. Our friends did some pre-investigation for us and had a few shops to have a look. Well, we found it. I did not think it color matched, but my dear wife with the stylish eye, knew it would be perfect. And she was right:

It is not installed yet but will look like it was made to order:

There are wing trim that will cover the expose wall on either side, as well as a top piece of trim. We already have talked to our cabinet guy about fitting the mantle to the wall and finishing off any oak trim as necessary. Can't wait. We will install once the floors are finished.

Tags: mantle, oak

Comment by kevin on January 19, 2012 at 6:54pm: hi ,checkout my photos, Im not sure if it is a mantle,but there are no holes in the back thatwould indicate it was on a dresser or buffet.

Comment by Bill Hendrickson on January 19, 2012 at 8:18pm: Kevin,

That definintely looks like a dresser top. It has the legs. See if the legs could have had pins in them, else it just used its weight and balance to stay erect. The opennings must have had beveled glass in it at some point...I bet

Comment by Bill Hendrickson on May 25, 2012 at 9:44pm: The mantle has been installed. The fellow who built our cabinets also installed the mantel and he had to use a bit of 1/4 sawn oak to finish the trim:

Now the floors have been totally refinished: