ittle Bird Lounge was five rooms when we bought the building, one of which was the minister office. The office had clearly gone through some bad design periods since its construction in 1915. When we acquired the church, the office's walls were covered in a faux wood sheeting. At least it was homey. But there was an odd protrusion along the long wall.
When we peeled away the faux wood walls during construction, we didn't hope for much other than to find the original brick walls. What we did find was the minister's original fireplace and plaster covering the brick. The green tile surround and plaster wall were pockmarked with nail holes, so the excitement of discovery quickly faded. We needed to make some quick design decisions.
As is evident, we decided to keep the fireplace. We never remove historic references. But, since the tile was not salvageable, we replaced it with marble tile. We thought that the plaster walls, however, had a great texture and patina, so we performed a surface level cleanup and restoration only.
After a few years in operation, we noticed that many events were decorating the plaster wall with floral arrangements, neon signs, etc. We interpreted this as an indication that these clients thought we could do more with the fireplace.
The Mantle
To complete the fireplace restoration would require a fireplace mantle. There was clearly a mantle originally but it was likely sold to a salvage company in the mid 1900s when the fireplace was buried in the wall.
But finding a period mantle that perfectly fit the space was not an easy matter. But in early 2023, we found a mantle that was native to Nashville, was of the appropriate age, and was of the exact dimensions needed. It was a needle in a haystack. It fit so perfectly, that we joke that we probably bought our mantle back.
Then it took a family effort to install and restore.
Today, the fireplace is the focal point of the entryway into Little Bird Lounge from Brash Courtyard. Events often decorate the mantle with floral arrangements, photographs and candles. There's often a longe seating arrangement or food table in front of it.
