Fireplaces these days may not even burn wood — gas jets are cleaner, neater and allow a fireplace to go virtually anywhere. So what about that other venerable feature: the mantel?
In some cases, it’s going the way of the old-fashioned hearth, the kind that used to heat houses and draw families together for warmth.
In many new homes today, this traditional nerve center is entirely optional. And even when fireplaces are standard, many buyers opt for a simple, clean look.
When choosing a mantel, the question home buyers might first want to ask themselves is, What purpose will it serve? As a design feature, for hanging a stocking once a year or, possibly, as a component of an all-inclusive media center — the modern era’s gathering place?
The defining criteria may center on how dominant you want your fireplace. Some mantels, for example, can virtually take over an entire wall with a display of intricate carvings in wood, stone or, increasingly popular, cast stone, a much lighter and less expensive alternative to stone.
“There is still a desire to have a mantel that is a place to put things on top of over the fireplace,” said Christopher Shaxted, vice president of marketing for the Cambridge Companies, which offers fireplaces in most of its homes. “We continue to offer what I’d consider a very traditional mantel, which is a kind of a Georgian style of wood, either stained oak or painted, with either a marble or ceramic tile surround.”
Many buyers who prefer a more contemporary look choose to forego a mantel altogether, builders and designers agreed.
“We don’t even do a lot of mantels,” said Chris Naatz, general Sales Manager of Sundance Homes. People usually choose a flush surround of marble, with the hearth flush with the floor, he said, noting that a raised hearth can be a dangerous obstacle for small children.
Sundance often will build out a little ledge of drywall above the fireplace for a kind of quasi-mantel, he added.
Of course, not everyone chooses a fireplace, which is an option at Sundance, Naatz explained. A popular starter fireplace is a direct vent with a ceramic surround for $2,800, he said.
By contrast, a traditional wood-burning masonry fireplace, with the brick front halfway up the wall costs $4,800, he added.
The fireplace with ceramic or marble surround and simple mantel shelf combined with a recessed entertainment space costs $5,500, Naatz said.
The most popular mantel at Sundance’s custom home division, Rembrandt Homes, is a formal carved oak mantel, either natural or painted, with a ceramic or marble surround, for $500, said Ed Glavin, vice president of operations. But buyers have the option of working with the builder to achieve whatever look they want, he noted.
For example, one buyer projected the fireplace into the room and nestled bookshelves in the recession created on either side with windows above them. The design change cost about $2,500, Glavin said.
Typically, he noted, buyers of houses under $250,000 want to incorporate a media center with their fireplace mantel and buyers of houses that cost more than that are choosing to break the two apart, either by doing a whole wall of built-ins or putting their media center into furniture they already own.
“The biggest challenge in placing the fireplace is, Where can I put my TV?” said Richard Swanson, whose architectural firm, R.M. Swanson & Associates, specializes in traditional homes costing more than $1 million in Lake Forest.
The solution Swanson has found is to build the TV into a cabinet above the fireplace. Many mantels he specifies are natural wood, some incorporating granite.
Cast stone mantels, reminiscent of old carved European mantels, also are becoming popular, he said. But not for everybody: They can cost $10,000 or more.
Brickstone Studios, of Lincoln, Neb., which manufactures cast stone mantels, also makes a matching cast stone mural above the fireplace. Such a complete floor-to-ceiling unit costs $8,225, said Dale Preston, a salesman for the company.
A simple cast stone mantel, weighing about 300 pounds, is light enough to be installed by a handy homeowner, he noted. Prices start at about $2,800.
