The Wood Fireplace Mantle...
More Extraordinary Custom Designs!

A wood fireplace mantle custom crafted by a highly skilled woodworker is truly a classic. The precision cuts and seamless joints, like those found in the superb hand-crafted cabinetry and paneled doors of a beautiful custom kitchen or library, are the hallmarks of a genuine craftsman!

Design above by Witt Construction

The best wood mantles are like fine pieces of heirloom furniture.   Made of hardwood or  fruitwood,  beautifully stained  and  sealed  --  or  flawlessly enameled -- their hand-rubbed finishes only hint at the labor of love and pride of  craftsmanship that went into cre-
ating them . . . . .

When  combined  with  the imagination and  talent  of a highly skilled designer, the  end  result  can  be extraordinary! Such  is  the case with the unique and
stunning  design  pictured  at right and
below.

The talent and skill behind it comes from one of the premier architectural firms in the Eastern United States -- Polhemus Savery DaSilva Architects Builders, based in Chatham, Massachusetts.  It is one of several extraor-
dinary fireplaces in an equally extraordinary home  (See below)  designed and built by the firm in 2003.

Exquisitely  detailed  with a flawless enameled finish,  this masterpiece of fireplace design has a calming, almost Zen-like feel and presence, despite its overall size and massing. Beautifully proportioned and scaled, its Asian-influenced  design  appears  "right at home"  in this stunning residence on Cape Cod, as shown below right and bottom.

The unusual wood fireplace mantle below is another fireplace design from the same home.  Once again, the designer exercised creative license . . . particularly with the unique detailing under the mantle shelf,  as shown in the  close-up on the right.    Also note how the mantle projects from the
face of the beautiful stone surround to allow room for concealed lighting.

Before  moving  on  to  custom  wood fireplace  mantle  designs  from  other homes,  the corner mantle pictured at right is notable in its own right.    The shallow  fluted  pilasters  between the deeply  moulded mantle legs and black marble surround are highly unusual, as is  the treatment of the raised  marble hearth  and  the  "partial"  overmantle centered   above  the  mantle,   itself. While clearly retaining  its  ties  to  its deeply-rooted  past,  the overall com-
position  presents  an  exciting and re-
freshing  new  twist  on  an old,  time-
honored theme.

Photo Credits for Striking Home
Pictured Above:  Peter Aaron, Esto
Randall Perry
Patrick Wiseman

More Wood Fireplace Mantles

The two fireplaces directly below present a study in contrasts. On the left, the  bold  and  highly  stylized white painted mantle contrasts sharply with the more subdued stained mantle on the right.

Similarly,  the relatively simple but elegant cherry mantle below left,  along with the more formal -- albeit restrained -- mantle with flanking bookcases (bottom),  are  in  stark  contrast  with  the exuberantly carved mahogany mantlepiece on the right.

The  rusticated  detailing  flanking  the firebox opening in the example pic-
tured below,  left,  is highly unusual.    Generally reserved for ground level exteriors to give visual weight and contrast -- particularly on Renaissance Revival  buildings -- it  is cut with beveled grooves to resemble a series of stone blocks. In the example pictured below, right, the reeded pilasters or "legs"  of  the  mantel are repeated in the overmantel above to effectively
tie it all together.

And finally,  the elegant French fireplace mantle and paneling,  or boissiere, pictured  below  has  been finished with a process called liming.     A highly fashionable  yet  traditional  method of decoration,  liming is a simple tech-
nique  for  bringing  out the grain of the wood and giving it a whitened look to impart a mellow, time worn appearance.

Please check back often or subscribe to our RSS feed,  as  we  fre- quently add new designs for wood fireplace mantles to our site.

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