Fireplace stone http://www.houzz.com/fireplace-stone
Fireplace brick https://www.houzz.com/photos/brick-fireplace-phbr0lbl-bl~l_126

Try this: http://www.tileshop.com/walltile/architectural.aspx. The sierra vista is beautiful. I would keep the mantle. Nice simple. You could do the hearth with either Carrera marble or silestone. The stone I'm suggesting has a bit of sparkle. Very pretty.

Thanks for the responses!

Minlaw - Is the wall tile easy to install yourself or is it something better suited for professional installation?

whatever you decide, it might be good to keep in mind the beautiful sunlight you will have on it and how that might be used to effect.

I hadn't thought about that, great point!

Hi Ryan, beautiful house. Years ago, when this house was built, there was a company called rookwood pottery in Cincinnati that created tile fireplace surrounds for houses like this one. It is hard to come by the original stuff now, but you can find reproductions. I would remove the tile, refinish the wall on the sides of the fireplace, replace the mantle with a surround designed around the features of the house, and invest in some handpainted rookwood-esque tile. It will become the centerpiece of the house, which it probably was at some point, but has lost its prominence over the years. Try to remember why this style of house attracted you in the first place, and honor it by creating a new fireplace that reflects the house design. Good luck! You have a real gem here.

Hi Ryan - There is not much if anything left of the original fireplace in your pre- war home. So start from scratch . You don't NEED to have a mantel unless you prefer one. They usually end up being overloaded with things anyway. Hunt the tile shops for tiles and or look at all the stone they have now. Get ideas from this site and find something that will go with your homes style, only for today's tastes. Glass tiles are wonderful but maybe the reflection of the sunlight might be to much, so maybe a stone is the way to go with some marble or granite tile surround and or hearth. If you want a mantel then have one that doesn't have a sharp corner sticking out like the old one.

Oh my gosh, if your fireplace has Rookwood tile or some other artisan tile, do not remove it at all. Do more research on the tiles before you forge ahead. Here is a Rookwood link http://www.google.com/search?q=rookwood+tile&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Zj5NT9nCI4LSiALR3oSlDw&ved=0CGkQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=621

Hi Ryan
That is a beautiful house. First of all you DONT need to have a mantel, unless you prefer to have one to show case some personal items or small scale decor. I would definitely make this wall the focal point of the room and also I would have the entire wall (floor to ceiling) treated with the same material: either a natural stone or some nice glass tile. Since the sun seems to hit the area I would not recommend installing any extremely high-priced artwork that might fade with the time but having some clear floating shelves to show case some decor can be a great solution to this wall.
Best,
Andrea

I think this is closer to a ceramic tile, I'll attach some additional pictures later. There doesn't seem to be anything special about this tile.

Here's an example of rookwood tile on your existing fireplace. As j22b mentioned, this might have been the type of tile used originally in your house. If you want to bring back the house to it's original form, this might be something really special. The tile isn't cheap, but it is gorgeous.

I agree that you do not need a mantel at all, however, I love the historic nature of the house, and a mantel is fitting. I also agree that the existing tile is not special, and can go. I still suggest you look at a special tile surround, possibly with some color and texture, that is fitting to the style and era of the house. I suggested a rookwood type, basically something that would be unique and artistic, and would really set it off. I think that I was misunderstood by folks - I don't think the tile you have is historic, I am suggesting that you restore the fireplace to a tile that looks historic.

yes to inabunker, except that I would not take it all of the way to the edge of the projection, but instead allow it to be framed by a wood fireplace surround in a style that would complement your existing trim.

Congrats on your beautiful home!
I will suggest removing the mantle and clad the entire fireplace with the same stone. This will enhance the height of the room.
Here is an example of a fireplace with the mantle removed and clad with stack stone.

you could carefully remove the tile and replace with a 1" or 2" grey (or blue-grey) polished granite. It looks very good with white trim and is not very expensive. Moreover It will work well with your wood flooring and keep the mantle, add some casing around the sides and maybe the top.

I have a brick wall with an off centered fireplace in the living room, which is basically used as a walk-through. Too eliminate the off centered look, I decided to move some pieces around, angled the desk, put a large plant behind the desk and hung an iron arch over the fireplace. A definite improvement!

Is this a working fireplace and is the current tile well grouted? Depending on how you plan to decorate, we found that we could put travertine over our ugly off white ceramic with a careful prep and chose a neutral pallets of white cream and grey which will compliment a wide range of schemes for future occupants. We also had a flat hearth, so we added a nice wood molding around the perimeter and put larger travertine tiles in the same palette on the new hearth. We painted the yellowing oak mantel a clean white, and it looks great.

Personette - This sounds interesting, do you have pictures of this you can share?

Hi Ryan Smallegan,
If you wanted to cover over the existing tile instead of tearing it out, a bunch of our customers have sent in before & after photos of fireplace surrounds that they have paneled over. Perhaps some of these design ideas can help you better plan what you'd like to do with your space.

If you'd like to take a look at more of our panels on and around fireplaces, you can find our fireplace portfolio at http://www.fauxpanels.com/portfolio-fireplaces.php

Hope these help get those creative juices flowing!

I haven't read through all the posts, but have you considering cladding? Look at it at IslandStone.com. I'm going to do my firelplace with it.

Wow! This fireplace facade overwhelms the wall and its mantle is much too contemporary...I see that it echos the shape of the trim on the room divider, but I think they should both be replaced with something similar to the original molding, which is visible throughout the rest of the room.
It looks like it may be possible to decrease the volume of the facade when you re-do (it's hard to say without a structural blueprint). My feeling is that a light marble slab would be more elegant than brick or stone in this room and that the mantle, if you decide to use one, should have an elegant, vintage look, perhaps with some subtle carving or other interesting detail that will soften its overall look.
This is an elegant room and the fireplace should enhance that look, not detract from it.

I would consider adding both a wood and either tile or marble surround. Hard to see the rest of your home, however, you seem to have somewhat traditional features in terms of trim. To go with straight tile and a small mantel would be too craftsman/tudor (unless of course your home is a craftsman or tudor). There are mantel kits out there that look stunning installed (by homeowners).. try to stick with the look of your home. all the best.

Hi ryan,
Good luck with your project. So you know, ours is a functioning gas fireplace, so there is some heat, and the tiles are doing fine oner the ceramic that was on the hearth. We used rough grade sandpaper to scar the and the applied thinset per routine with a 1/2" notched trowel. To be safe, on the sidewalls, we applied a 1/4" cement backerboard oner the old walltile before applying thinset and the travertine, We grouted ans sealed the new tile, and

Sorry...just realized that my upload didn't work...and my message was cut off. Not sure why this is happening, but of you want to contact me at personette@hughes.net I can try it from there.

just curious, is this house in Grand Rapids?

It is, do you know the house?

Yes, my sister and brother in law tried to buy it. Great house. I have been there a couple of times. I live in Nashville, but visited when they were looking at it. Did you open up the pool? What is your plan with the guest house? I was salivating at the prospects when they were considering it. Absolutely wonderful house.

Wow, small world! The pool has been uncovered, the ceiling re-stained, and now I am working on getting the carpet around it replaced. Getting some quotes on getting the pool painted before filling it up. The "guest house" will probably end up being my office.

Yes it is a small world. I thought I recognized that house. Wild. I never got to see the inside (except for the pics online.) We went over and walked the property and peeked in the windows. My sister viewed it with her realtor a couple of times, but they could not wrap their heads around the amount of work to be done (they are not handy.) I was really hoping that they would buy it, a classic. They ended up in East, also historic, but not as much house for the money. All the best to you on this one. I would have loved to have had it myself.

When you go to have your pool painted - think about BLACK -- it reflects the sky and looks very high end. Everyone seems to paint pools blue -- boring !

I would think a black pool would be very dangerous with kids swimming and not being able to see if one is at the bottom of the pool... Also this is an indoor pool so not much reflecting sun on it.

Sorry it took so long to respond Ryan. They come in irregular pieces. I'm not a handy girl by any means but it looked easy when they were doing the Stanley slate in my house. If you have a Tile Shop close by I would go there. Sorry can't be more help

That looks like it might be painted Rookwood tiles. The mantel and tile shapes look right.. If so, you have a very valuable fireplace. From an article on Rookwood tiles: "Individual tiles can run from $175 to $599 and higher..." I hope you have not ripped it out!!