In a villa nestled in the heart of Florida, a transformation was about to unfold. The homeowners had a vision: to bring the charm of Mediterranean Italian villas to their backyard. They sought the help of Ancient Surfaces, a company renowned for its commitment to preserving historical beauty and crafting magnificent structures.
The transformation began with the arrival of a stunning limestone fire pit. As the fire pit was carefully placed in the heart of the backyard, the space began to change. The intricate carvings and weathered texture of the fire pit breathed life into the villa, telling a story of time and craftsmanship.
As the sun set, the fire pit took center stage. Its robust form and warm glow created a cozy and inviting atmosphere, reminiscent of the grand structures that adorn the streets of Rome and Florence. The fire pit was more than just a functional element; it was a tangible link to Italy’s rich architectural heritage
The transformation didn’t stop there. The backyard was further adorned with elements that echoed the charm of Mediterranean Italian architecture. Each piece, meticulously crafted by Ancient Surfaces, played a crucial role in evoking the timeless elegance of Italy.
As the moon rose, the backyard was no longer just a space. It was a testament to the allure of ancient surfaces, a piece of art that told a story of history and beauty. The homeowners looked around at the limestone fire pit and the transformed space, and they knew they had achieved their vision.
Ancient Surfaces’ dedication to quality and authenticity is evident in every limestone fire pit they create. Each piece is meticulously crafted, ensuring it not only meets but exceeds their clients’ expectations. Whether it’s a villa reminiscent of Italian architecture or a home inspired by Mediterranean European design, Ancient Surfaces ensures their products enhance the beauty and functionality of any space.
Cottage are usually well known in several countries European nations and are a homier version of a farmhouse is such a thing was even possible in the first place!
An exhaustive number of Cottage comes in various locations in France, Italy and even Eastern Europe and Russia. A cottage is frequently as spacious or small as you desire but typically is under 1,500 sqft. Cottage provide a house abroad experience if you ever decided to build one on a spacious multi-acreage parcel of land.
The preferred cottage style is one you imagine out of natural ecological material such as wood or stone, with some contemporary furniture pieces thrown into the interior design. Whether a Montana style mountain fishing lodge or a warm Mexican hacienda adobe, all cottage share some basic common element focusing on simplicity and wabi-sabi.
If your house is reminiscent of an outdated European villa, you wouldn’t wish to choose something like concrete Decking that is more appropriate for a modern soho gallery setting.
Cottage furniture is normally envisioned with a washed off light painted and finding the proper furniture can be well worth the effort.
Stone and wood dominates the interiors of Cottages and the ideal flooring for a cottage is a big sized antique limestone flooring pavers coupled with ancient reclaimed stone fireplace the end up working off of each other in making the cottage even more lived-in and homie.
-Kelso Dining Chairs-Kelso Lounge Chairs-Kelso Square Folding Dining Tablein the terrace of aCountry House in Sonoma;Designer: The Wiseman GroupLandscape: Marta Fry
Are you having problems coming up with the right design ideasfor your outdoor stone fireplace?
Do you feel like what’s out there on the market looks so cookie cutter and low quality that it could cheapen instead of enrich your backyard experience?
If you are hoping to include a unique looking stone fireplace into your wild outdoors you just might be in luck.
Installing a real elegant stone fireplacecould be a step in the right direction. Tired of the same ole copy paste Slam Depot stacked stone ‘fireplace kits’ that are “so easy you can install them yourself”?!
They are quite frankly the saddest thing to look at and are littered across the dot-com world that import all sorts of substandard goods guaranteed not to impress you nor enrich your outdoor living experience.
Poof! So glad we got that out of our system for a change. So now back to our regular dose of kumbaya and political correctness…
Here are some real Outdoor Stone Fireplace Masterpieces that deserve to be in your Backyard and should be worthy of setting the stage for your upcoming best memories you’ll be creating with your love ones.
A fireplace is often a focal point already, but when holidays come, it takes on added significance —with Santa coming down the chimney and all. Encircle your Christmas stockings with mantel decorations to suit the holiday spirit. Once your fireplace is cheerful, it’s time to light a fire, sit back with a glass of wine and soak up that heart-warming feeling of the holidays at home.
A fireplace is always on display, but this time of year it’s especially under the spot lights, with friends and family warming up in front of a roaring fire or huddling in the living room for an evening of games or movies. The stone mantel, which usually is an added value actor throughout the year, lands a starring role around the holidays, with beautiful, stockings and string lights draped across it.
Here’s few of Ancient surfaces mantel fireplaces decorated in a very stunning way to add Christmas spirit into the room
A mostly white color palette with pottery, tea lights and snowflakes contrasts dark foliage and garlands. Looks beautifully matched with the Christmas tree. Gives feeling of warmth.
The stone fireplace shown in here follows a Romanesque Revival or, more specifically, Romanesque style. Located in the home’s formal living room, it has a very robust and masculine look.
A French Provence Antique Limestone Fireplace adorned by Garlands, flanked by stockings and decorated with Mistletoe, Red Roses and Christmas shrubbery.
Natural greenery, wreaths, candles, silver, gold and white … white bee lights covers this beautifully cared mantel stone fireplace that sets a truly Christmas spirit for this room.
Very simple and clean fireplace, very warm yellow lights are dispersed around the fireplace and on the stove along with reindeer and a tiny Christmas tree to create a special mood and get into the Christmas holiday feeling.
A traditional Southern Italian Fireplace with a Baroque Puglia Style Christmas Decoration focused on Angelic Cherub decoration and Sicilian ceramic in the Majolica Melograno style
An Authentic French Pyrénée mountains Fireplace carved in the style known locally as the “Cheminee Montagnard Des Pyrénées” finished with a minimalist natural garlands, wine flasks, organic homemade Bees wax candles and an antique Candelabrum.
They say nothing lasts forever, but we all know that one can own a few items that may last for generations to come. No, we’re not talking about a girl’s best friend to quote Marline Monroe. Even though our stones can’t be worn on your wrists or fingers, they still can be a crowd pleaser none the less. Installing an antique limestone fireplace in your family room can be the one design element that everyone in your family agrees with and is comforted by especially when it starts raining or snowing outside.
Pedigree (History and Provenance) of the fireplace aside, what design elements one should consider when selecting a fireplace that may last you a lifetime in some cases?
You always need to keep in mind that your fireplace selection will have to be a permanent fixture in your home and is supposed to live through any design change your room or home will be going through in the future. What would you rather go for? A well carved fireplace or a simply hand carved one? Let’s consider the positive aspects of both choices and see how they may pertain to your taste buds.
Fully carved stone mantles:
When considering a fully hand carved limestone fireplace close your eyes and think of a complex and rich multi-layered ‘Taurasi’ wine blend from ‘Campania’ that’s been well aged in oak barrels.
What nuances would your eyes savor? Can you envision tasting the Southern Italian Baroque acanthus leaves free flowing on this mantle corbeled sides or the rich and velvety pallet of the sprawling and spiraling vined foliage that can grace the front face of your unique fireplace?
Can you imagine the glowing heat radiating from inside the stone built firebox of such a captivating mantle? The reflected shadow of the flame dancing on the medieval carved limestone coupled with the intoxicating sound on the flickering burning wood becoming one with the melody of slowly decanted bottle of Barolo from Piedmont…
If you picture yourself in that frame, allow yourself to be captured by an antique well carved limestone fireplace that’s been salvaged from centuries old Renaissance or Baroque castles by Ancient Surfaces.
A fully carved fireplace of that era will define the look of your entire room and anchor your whole house with an authentic design persona.
Simple carved Fireplace:
Simply carved fireplaces allow visual evenhandedness between styles, finish patina and shade of the room and the stone of the fireplace. In a simple fireplace the design focus shifts from the carving to the actual antique limestone itself as it becomes the predominant design feature of the mantel instead of its minimal carved elements.
When it’s simple it goes with everything else right? Well yes that is true, but one has to be careful that going with everything doesn’t turn into a disappearing act where the mantle itself totally blends with its environment in the same way a window frame blends with the wall.
Simple architectural fireplaces when realized symmetrically and when created and carved under the golden ratio and the golden mean will carry more of a creative punch than most of its other ornately carved counterparts. Minimalism when portrayed in well-defined and harmonic ratios, guarantees you a powerful visual output and a soothing organic feel that will satisfy your design vision for that space.
With a simple yet elegant antique hand carved fireplace you’ll be looking more at the architecture, structure and patina of the fireplace and how its various component simply integrate together with your space.
As a wise man once said: “the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.” William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347)
Only second to an outdoor limestone fountain, a fireplace is an architectural element that’s guaranteed to make your backyard the place where everyone wants to be. It easily becomes the focal point of an outdoor living space, drawing both friends and family together around its warm glitter.
An outdoor fireplace that’s hand carved out of limestone can turn a regular yard to an ‘Al Fresco’ living room. Adding a harmonious and exciting space for kids to hover over as they roast marshmallows over a rustic wood burning flame or relaxing with a glass of wine in the evening with friends and loved ones are some of the numerous mood and climate altering applications of any outdoor antique limestone fireplaces you’ll find at Ancient Surfaces.
Choosing a fireplace may seems like a daunting task until you contact us. It pays to work with a company that has 50 years of field experience in the art of fireplace design, making, reclaiming and installation. So if you’re dreaming of adding an outdoor fireplace to your yard here are the top 5 key things to consider beforehand:
Increase resale price: Studies like the CV report have shown the RIO or return on investment on both, outdoor and indoor fireplaces are the highest out of all other remodeling projects you can undertake in your home. If you are considering selling your home sometime in the future, an outdoor fireplace can be very beneficial at sale time. Accented with comfy outdoor living furniture, it will help potential buyers to easily imagine themselves in that space.
Select your burn- fireplace vs. fire pit: Built-in fire pit can be either contemporary or old world looking. Ironically, on many occasions, we’ve converted ancient rounded and rectangular wellheads into fire pits. Their lower height 20 to 22 inches allow them to be placed virtually anywhere in your backyard as they embrace your open space without any visual interruption.
Stone fireplaces are more majestic and monumental in nature. They’ll help you add an architectural presence to any given outdoor location. Offset your fireplace a few feet from a neighbor’s property wall will help you turn a major outdoor design minus into a plus. The fireplaces can be the same as the ones you are used to seeing inside villa style homes in Europe.
Wood vs Gas burning: You can always purchase a prefabricated firebox that range in price from a couple thousand dollars to brand name boxes that are double that figure. Your other option is to have a mason build you a wood/gas burning box from scratch. In both cases you’ll still need to stone clad or stone tile the return and chimney stack in a stone element that complement the stone fireplace mantle you are after.
Without going into your city ordinances and local construction codes on wood vs. gas burning fireplaces or debating the environmental impact of each option, we believe that from an aesthetic and design standpoint a wood burning fireplace offers a unique source of heat that warms people on so many levels while providing you with a mesmerizing audio-visual show that is like no other. In most cases, people settle for a dual Wood/gas burning firebox that offers its users a flexible solution, that is both, romantic and practical as the flames continue to burst out heat long after the logs has turned into cider.
Built-in versus freestanding: Installing an outdoor fireplace is a big architectural plus no matter how you look at it. However, before settling on a plan, think about how you envision yourself using the space. Do you have an open or roofed patio? Do you have an expanded opened-air space just a few step away from your pool of Jacuzzi that can be complemented with a freestanding fire pit?
Consider, but don’t be narrowed by your home’s architecture: The fire pit shown here from ancient surfaces has a lustrous, modern look yet fits in charmingly with any traditional old world looking home.
If you are having trouble imagining how a certain fireplace would look with your home, consider taking your search into the digital realm by starting a free Houzz profile and a Houzz idea book. Start piling in some of the hundreds of photo ideas we have parked in our Houzz database.
One good advice we could give you though, is to choose a stone chimney-piece you really enjoy looking at. Whether it’s the focus of your pool patio or centered on a side property wall, chances are you’ll hopefully live with it for a long time.
This Online catalog selection featuring some of our captivating antique limestone fireplaces were taken from our own printed fireplace catalog from 2011 to 2016.
One of a kind antique limestone fireplace hundreds of years old reclaimed and restored by hand, shipped from Spain to a French castle in the Dordogne region close to the Limousine national forest.
A captivating antique Limestone Fireplace that features an over mantle or a ‘trumeaux’ as its called in French.
A lovely antique stone fireplace with an etched Cross motif on its midsection. This Cross is known as the Maltese Cross.
A finely carved crest of two lions flanking a Medici vase is the main characteristic of this antique 15th century fireplace.
A beige limestone antique fireplace dating back to the 17th century. This lovely stone mantle was restored to its formed glory by the capable hands of our professional artisans who had to change and beef up its top shelf and extend its legs.
This antique Italian beige limestone fireplace was supplied, restored and installed for this charming private Italian Villa. Over the years, the list of our clientele has grown into the thousands and reads like a Forbes 500 list.
Both our clients and competitors admire the rarity and uniqueness of our one of a kind Antique Fireplace Mantles that we salvage and carefully (and sometime painstakingly) restore back to their original splendor without defacing the time honored patina that those pieces have acquired during their temporal journey since their hand carving centuries ago.
We are trying to move with the times by making our entire Yard stocks becoming digitally available for online viewing.
This massive undertaking required tens of thousands of man hours worth of documentation, data entry, archiving and classifications.
We’ll be keeping everyone updated on this herculean undertaking as the months or even maybe years role by!
To learn more about those fascinating and unique architectural gems as well as their hand carved exact replicas feel free to please contact us through our website at Ancient Surfaces.
Terminology of antique fireplaces commonly used in the English language
Antique fireplaces have always been the essence of the English period interior. The popularity of antique fireplaces may have been due to our famously unpredictable weather, but that does not mean they are all English. Indeed, continental antique fireplaces are among the most popular, with the fabulous Baroque and Rococo products of France and Italy among the most sought-after. No wonder why those styles and school of carving have found their way into to family of English fireplace mantles. The fireplace in the English language took up various terms that basically meant the same thing. We would like to examine those terms closed and while at it show you some very unique British fireplaces in the process.
Antique Reclaimed Victorian style Marble Mantle from Portugal
Antique fire surrounds Antique fire surrounds make an excellent focal point for the interior designer. Many period homes lost their interiors completely during the centrally-heated second half of the twentieth century, when so many antique fire surrounds were removed from their original homes. Carefully chosen antique fire surrounds will provide that creative spark to bring character back into a ruthlessly modernized interior.
The word surround depicts the skirting material generally stone since stone was noncombustible and a bad heat conductor so someone touching the surround wouldn’t suffer from 3ed degree burns!
Antique reclaimed medieval fireplace mantle from Ireland
Antique Reclaimed Fireplace Mantle in an Old English Manor
Antique mantels/mantles
Antique mantels are the elegant suits our forebears chose to clothe their otherwise utilitarian fireplaces in. The term “mantel” is a variation of the word “mantle”, meaning cloak or coat, and it is true that the best antique mantels lend style to a room just as a well-cut bespoke suit adds style to a man. Funny enough the term bespoke that originated in the 17th century originated in tailory and fond its direct secondary use in mantel making. Today the terms ‘mantel’ and ‘mantle’ are totally interchangeable and receive about equal Google fits amongst people searching for fireplaces.
Chimney-pieces/Chimneypieces
Chimneypieces are the heart of the home. Well-used chimneypieces become part of the family. Early in the evening as its flames are first kindled its flames leap high and it blazes brightly, accompanying the chatter and conviviality of a pleasant evening in. As the evening strolls on the jumping flames become lazier, receding into a radiant glow, while the entire chimneypiece becomes hot to the touch. As the last person creeps up the stairs to bed, the final embers glimmer in the hearth and the warmth of the chimneypiece is spread around the whole house.
Antique reclaimed stone fireplace mantle from Malta with an English influence
Antique mantelpieces
Antique mantelpieces are somewhere for showing. Clocks, photographs, ornaments, how many people display their most precious memories on an antique mantelpiece? Everyone who has one!Antique mantelpieces are somewhere for inspiring. We’ve all read in front of the fire, occasionally glancing up to revolve our thoughts in the changing shapes and shadows of the flames. The depression of dark Winter nights is transfigured into nostalgic reflections by the glowing optimism of the open fire.
Antique reclaimed marble mantle English Victorian in style
Antique reclaimed English fireplace mantle carved out of stone
Two Tudor antique reclaimed mantel tops sitting in our salvage yard
Reclaimed fireplaces & Original fireplaces
We specialize in the salvage, restoration and supply of reclaimed fireplaces. Why settle for new fireplaces when you can get reclaimed fireplaces? Bring character and history into your home with our reclaimed fireplaces. These original mantles can reinvigorate almost any room, while also providing light and warmth. Reclaimed fireplaces are restored by us to the highest standard, with an unprecedented level of care taken over every part of the restoration of these original fireplaces. We work in conjunction with many privately and publicly preserved estates. We are also a member of many Guilds.
Antique English fireplace mantel with Gothic Tudor Rosettes carved on its front
An Anglo-French mixed style antique stone fireplace mantle
An antique reclaimed Norman era stone fireplace mantel
Salvaging isn’t only a happening kinda think that started in the last few years with the rise of the global green conscience… It’s a bit early than that.
Well OK let’s go WAY back here… Back to 3500 B.C. or 5500 years ago to the first recorded human battle: “The Battle for Hamoukar” story has it that an early city army in what is known today as modern-day Iraq invaded the city of Hamoukar in modern-day Syria and took it over. Researchers tell us that clay pots, massive mills and grinding wares from one culture were used by the conquerors far after they’ve won the battle. Evidence shows that cooking utensils from the conquered city kept on being used for at least a few more generations! In essence early reclamation was inseparable from conquest and keeping the spoils of war. Visit our website at: http://www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
Reenactment in utilization of ancient cooking tools and techniques. Similar cooking tools were salvaged by humans and reused from one culture to the next.
Today reclamation and salvaging have undoubtedly become part of our human psyche and daily lives, developing into the skillful art of re-purposing a once neglected and discarded item into a functional and lively ‘ object d’art ‘ of intense beauty and a colorful past. Visit our main website at: http://www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
A 200 years old ruined stone farmhouse in the American Midwest
Even though the basic building materials have always been the same: stone, cooked earth and lumber, the items salvaged from two rundown farmhouses in provenance for example could differ vastly in salvaged content. Age and village being the same, style, level of craftsmanship, size, attention to details, color and current condition play major roles in determining the items final public appeal and therefore cost of an old fireplace from another. For more information visit our website at: http://www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
Salvaged Twice! one as a fireplace the second as an entryway.
For the reclaimer the fireplaces or what is normally left of them are the “Pièce de résistance ” in an old home. On average only one in five reclaimed structures offers unique original fireplace mantles that are significant enough to be refurbished and restored back to their former glory. This entryway to a private Italian villa shown in the picture above, was once a vibrant fireplace mantle of another structure that was demolished a couple of hundred years ago. Reclamation is no different from coal mining you just never know when you might find a hidden diamond! For more information visit our website at: http://www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
Another Architectural gem nestled between overgrown shrubs in Europe
It’s more like a diamond in the rough really. It takes time, skills and passion in locating all the missing pieces and finding out how they all fit into this massive jigsaw puzzles called antique fireplaces. If you like to see more of our reclaimed mantels please visit our website at: http://www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
Ancient Reclaimed Medieval Walk-in Mantel
An Antique Stone Fireplace with 3 Layers of Paint, Missing its Top Shelf. Image taken prior to reclamation.
More time then often all the original pieces of a fireplace are not all found so a substitution of a few pieces are deemed necessary to complete the transition from the mount of broken terracotta floors, stone walls and piles of foliage and dirt into a fireplace in a lucky client’s living room! For more information about our reclaimed antique fireplaces please visit our website at: www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
A French Antique fireplace mantel getting reclaimed with the help of a hydraulic crane. Step-2-
Eventually everything in this ruined farmhouse gets saved and reused from the old wood beams, the stone walls, the ancient furniture and the limestone floors all get a second chance in other people home. For more information about our reclaimed antique fireplaces please visit our website at: www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
A French Antique fireplace mantel getting reclaimed with the help of a hydraulic crane. Step-3-
In a way the memory of this farmhouse, its walls, floors and fireplace will live on for centuries to come giving a new meaning to the term reincarnation. Please visit our website at: www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
Installed ancient fireplace mantle in a French Provence style home
A similar fireplace from the same age and provenance as the reclaimed fireplace above shown installed in a French provincial style home. For more information please visit our site at: www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
Covered with layers of moss, barnacles and traces of ancient paint every single stone piece is a gem by itself reveling interesting clues of what life looked like just a few hundred years back in farmhouses across the south of Europe and on the Mediterranean coast. To learn more please visit our site at: http://www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
This Antique fireplace mantle was showcased in a Malibu house half way across the world from where it was originally reclaimed and restored from. For more information about our reclaimed antique fireplaces please visit our website at: www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
Architectural Digest Magazine April 2011. An antique reclaimed fireplace mantel in Malibu, CA
This beauty feels right in home with its surroundings in sunny Malibu, California. For more information about our reclaimed antique fireplaces please visit our website at: www.AncientSurfaces.com/Antique-Fireplaces.html
The Antique Mantle prior to installation as featured in AD 2011 April Edition
To in involved in this reclamation process is nothing short of a spiritual experience were one painstakingly rediscovers the lost and narrow path to redemption and enlightenment trough hard labor, vision and determination.
Antique Fireplace Prior to Reclamation in an Old Italian Mansion
We do get asked a good question that we feel the need to address: Why not restore the structures and preserve this history within them for generations to come? And the simple answer to that question is that its impossible to restore every single structure ever built until the last century!
Cinque Terre May 26th 2011- A new meaning for people living on top of each other.
Both private and public owners around the world are constantly facing that same dilemma, to make the tough choice between what to restore and what not. As demand for the existing land slowly overtakes the preservation needs of earlier structures, (built-in the last few hundred years) the unfortunate choice becomes more obvious as a triage approach becomes necessary. The bright side to this story is that nothing gets wasted nowadays.
Antique Fireplace Mantle Prior to Reclamation
The image of a wrecking ball destroying great-grandpa’s cottage is a thing of the past. Thanks to the public awareness of multiple millions of professional and armature reclaimers alike, more people from around the world have developed a passion in reusing and restoring every single old fragment that gets demolished: from this old nails to that old wallpaper!
A stunning antique fireplace in an ancient farmhouse in Europe
There are interesting stories to each reclaimed mantle because they usually capture the essence of the ancient structures they once came from.
Antique fireplace mantle in a french villa in Avignon Circa 1610 A.D.
Even when the fireplace origins are unknown it could still shed a bit of light about its lineage.
Reclaimed Mantle Near the Town of Avignon
By knowing what to look for and paying attention to every minute detail within the mantles one can start understanding the hidden markers.
Reclaimed Mantle Maltese Stars
Just like in humans were the eyes could be the window to the soul, as they say, the mantle midsection could carry a ton of information on who the mantle owners were and what they held dear to their harts.
Ancient Limestone Lintel of an Antique Fireplace Mantle with a French Coat-of-Arms
From a scribbled date or a capitalized initials, to a carved cote-of-arms or an angle cut of a keystone may be found and maybe indicative to the origins of each piece.
Reclaimed Mantles in situ in an Old coastal Italian private villa
The general rule of thumb is that the more unique and individual an antique mantle was, the more pivotal the villa or mansion it must have been in.
Ancient Fireplace Reclaimed from Spain installed in a castle in California Circa 1650
Notably, as time went on, the stone fireplace mantle became a defining marker of nobility and a Status symbols in all European countries and kingdoms with no exception.
Reclaimed Mantle Villa Benata
It became so much so ‘the’ status symbol that it was were many European families chose to carve their Heraldic arms and last names on, which in itself was the most important socioeconomic marker of the 13th century and still is in some ways.
Ancient Norman era fireplace mantle with a threatening coat of arms
Antique Fireplaces 
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