Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, Mendota Mantels is a team of talented woodworkers producing custom-carved mantels made mostly of Eastern White Pine. Each mantel is one-of-a-kind and hand-sculpted from reclaimed timbers and beams salvaged from old barns, mills and warehouses.
Designs range from simple beams that are just barely finished to show off the natural beauty of the wood to complex sculptural creations like the ship featured top, and an illustration of one customer’s entire family history, above.
Eastern White Pine is a natural choice for anything carved by hand, since it’s smooth and highly malleable, offering up an ideal surface for detailed work. Check out a series of incredible hyper-realistic sculptures for more examples.