That is so nice, thanks for sharing. It is such an honor to be able to restore these things, and to be able to have the means to do so. I commend your care and the time you've invested in your lovely home.

Question re mahogany: you might want to make sure that the mahogany you use is sustainably sourced...it's gorgeous but it's a major rainforest wood and is being poached, as it were, destroying habitat left and right. You can look for something that is called "FSC certified" if you're in question about the source of the wood. OR you can look on a craigslist for someone selling downed lumber that's been milled locally. I love using that kind of wood. Make sure it's dried sufficiently as well. This might get into the range of *you* having to do the sourcing; there are plenty of aspects of our remodel where we know that a contractor would have stopped *long* before we would have been happy...the truly custom sometimes involves extra *extra* legwork on the owner's part. I look so forward to re-doing our mantel--it will be locally milled walnut, I hope. Have you checked craigslist? You can even start looking in "services" for arborists who might know people who have recently cut down a walnut tree. Then it would have local resonance too, rather than being just another product.

I realize this post is a few months old, but just in case you haven't done anything yet to the fireplace or someone else is looking for the same info, i'll post. We did just this, a mason did the demolition in our case. (we had three "attached stone pieces or mantels) I've attached before and after photos. BEFORE AFTER:

A friend is having fireplace wall dressed with stone (manufacured type) and wants to mount a rustic timber mantel shelf on the wall prior to the stone being added. I thought a rustic shelf would look better sitting on the surface of the stone wall and supported by corbels (wood or wrought iron). Any opinions one way or the other out there? Thanks!