Too distracted by those speakers
Hey, at least you recognize them as speakers (the Maggies). Lots of poeple look at them like they they're related to the Monolith (the speakers, not the people, although, come to think of it......)!
I like the dark mantle, good contrast with the brick.
Thanks, I designed the mantle to relate to the plate rail of the wainscoting in the dining room, and the crown moulding in both living and dining rooms, also designed by moi.
The fireplace surround had already been painted over a couple of times before we got the house, and given the rug-face bricks, there was no way we could return them to their original state of brickness®, although white fireplaces do look good in the right context. Kind of Mackintosh and Voysey-esque (Contessa's favorite architects).
The windows and window casing/trim in the dining room photos are original to the 1917 house.
Nice fire extinguisher. Does it have a clear coat?
We picked that up at one of our local "antique" shops. It may have a clear coating on it but, if so, it is quite thin, as the brass and copper does show a bit of wear/age to it. We got that a few years ago, and it still looks the same, today. It even has the cage and bottle in it, so it is fully functional, if desired.
Is the flue sealed/plugged in any way? Wondering about sound vibrations causing old soot to rain down on the speaker.
Yes, the chimney has been capped off at the top, and while the original bluestone mantle was off we cleaned out most of the junk inside the surround (drum stick, green playing marble, Ace-of-Spades Liberty playing card, six birds
, and lots of broken bricks, rocks and lath). I probably removed about 400 lb. of stuff, then we sealed up the rest of it to keep out cold air and new birds.
The speaker may be just mounted on the baffle board and the firebox used as the "cabinet" as I saw no evidence of a box inside the surround below the lintel. The Bozak 302 was used regularly since being installed in the late 1950s until the advent of <<<S-T-E-R-E-O>>> (around here, anyway). We did hook it up to our old KLH Model 21 table radio and the speaker worked and sounded quite good for as old as it is. Just a little bit of mid-bass chestiness. As to vibrations, all it seemed to have attracted were the aforementioned (long since dead) birds.
Interesting speaker installation. If there's a clarinet in there, it must be one of those rare albinos that blends into its surroundings.
See above regarding speaker installation, which was actually not uncommon in the classic audiophile world in the days of glorious >>>M-O-N-O<<<. I recall Edward Tatnall Canby talk about such in magazine articles, decades ago.
Standard ebony clarinet, but beat to hell, not worthy of a wall hanging (maybe, a tree hanging would have been appropriate). It is deep inside the surround, behind the brick face, somewhere just south of the Ansel Adams photograph (yes, a real one).
I see the speakers in the fireplace, but no clarinet.
See above reference No. 3297430138.29481
Have faith that if the speakers and baffle are hanging, there must be a cabinet in there.
Best I can tell, there is a wood frame that the baffle is mounted to, but not much more, probably.
Photo pre-renovation.
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