Beautiful! Is your house Craftsman in style? I could not find your exact fireplace, these are Craftsman and look to be the same age http://www.craftsmanredux.net/tag/craftsman-fireplace/ Or here http://www.laughingsun.com/portfolio/whole_house/merlin_oakleaf.htm Or here http://blackfindesign.com/2010/12/craftsman-fireplace-2/

I'm sure there must be more houses like yours in the area . Check with your neighbors and see if someone still has an original fireplace like yours or see what they have done with theirs. Any salvage places or antique shops you can see what they have for mantels.

Very unique! I love painted brick, and I love painting mantles one of my favorite dramatic neutrals...Sherwin Williams Warm Stone. It's always a hit with my clients.

thanks everyone. It is not craftsman but the fireplace does have that look. there IS an identical house to ours around the corner, I have been trying to peak in the window but I might need to go knock on their door. Susan thank you for the paint tip, that is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I love green tile (we're re-tiling the stone on the front/floor) so I would love to do a cool neutral green, but I know it could go horribly wrong. We may have to get some paint samples and test it out!

Also look at limestone - it is even more neutral and will go with anything you do color wise years from now. It's timeless.

I hink you'll find the SW Warm Stone to be a great color! It has some drama, and a very current look. It will also be a nice compliment to most greens. It's neutral with some punch. I've been painting interior doors in that color of late and I love it! Sherwin Williams offers large paint memo samples, 8x10. If you get multiples, you can really cover some space to see if you like it! If you have any trouble getting them, just let me know and my office can send them to you directly. Good luck! Keep me posted. If you check my blog, you'll find many examples of Warm Stone from trim to walls and ceiling...maybe the doors are on there too. besusan.blogspot.com

Excellent comments!

- Given the vintage of the home, and assuming it has an Edwardian or Craftsman feel to it, the brick may well have been the only finish around the fireplace (I have a similar fireplace in my home of only slighter later construction). There may not have been any other mantel or trim, given the decorative nature of the brick work, which would have been concealed by a full mantel. The "thin" piece of wood may be a later addition. The only thing that has me perplexed is that the lower brick corbels hint at supporting some other piece of trim . . . if there are any other houses in the neighborhood built by the same carpenter, I wouldn't be surprised to find out there was something else there at one time.

If you discover that there was some wood trim at that lower level, be sure to check the required clearances in the installation manual for the gas insert before adding anything back.

It's difficult to see with the photos, but there appears to be about a 2-3" thick slab at the top of the brick. If typical for the the period, it may be veneered with quarter-sawn oak. I'd be tempted to find out, personally, before adding another coat of paint.

Lastly, there is a trick to re-fitting the sheet-metal surround on your nice fireplace insert so that it doesn't hit the brick corbels at each upper corner, if you are interested.

@ CoastRoad: yes that is a very interesting point about the lower brick - it does appear to be a support for something, maybe a wood detail there. The wood at the top - the mantel - is not original. It is a plywood box most likely made in the last 20 years. We would love to put something more typical, like quarter sawn oak. We're re-doing the floors in oak so that may be a good way to go.

Interesting you notice the fit of the insert. We had a tough time making it fit. This photo shows the first try at installation - it did not fit properly. We had them come back out and they fixed it. We went with a smaller insert, but with an additional sheet of metal at the bottom to prop up the smaller size. The current fit is much better than seen here. But good eye! the original installer left with a scratch of the head and it took us a week to push for a proper job.

@mainestraw - glad to hear you got the insert fitment straightened out. "The Devil is in the details!"

I think Coastroad is spot on. I've seen a similar mantel in an early 1900's building. The top wood piece was a stained oak with a simple trim. A wood finish top will add warmth to the space and fireplace area. The one I've seen had a larger top than yours, as it came out more from the wall and brick.

I have to agree with "Coastroad" 100%. On investigation you may find more beauty than you ever imagined. The only problem with such investigations I have found, is that sometimes it makes for a much larger project than anticipated. On the flip side of that caution though, a few of the things I have found buried under a facade over original: 1. Solid marble 8 inches wide, with custom fluting all the way around the opening (mantel unfortunately had been removed), 2. Molded Calcium (styled in a "French" looking pastern) 3. Solid Maple (In a part of the country that maple doesn't exist), so doing a little digging can be well worth your time and pain. Some examples that might help you make a decision for a final product you can find at http://www.mantelsdirect.com/fireplacemantelslp-new.html?gclid=CN783M_lnq4CFYoZQgodikio-Q. I have also attached a few photos I dug up when doing a little research on your issue. They range from simple to ridiculous (in my humble opinion). If you would like more info from me don't hesitate to ask.

This fireplace is very vertical. You could get a new oak slab that goes on top of the current mantel and is much wider. Then, support it with pillars on either side of the fireplace... to create a wider look.

If the mantle is wood, I would strip and stain it a warm color. Choose a rich deep gray color that is in the tiles on the floor in front of the fireplace.

The top part if your fireplace that you are calling the mantel is really the overmantel which has had the top part removed - the real mantel has also been removed and the would have rested on the other brick corbles on the lower part.