Fanning the Flames: Recreating Mantels

Our Project House Villas are changing in big and small ways. One of the recent projects Sara McDaniel has tackled comprises the mantels, which are a distinct offering to the area because they depart from the traditional Southern mantel and fireplace styles.

- AUTUMN KRAUSE

The Villas at Spanish Court are slowly awakening from their years-long slumber as Sara McDaniel of Simply Southern Cottage renovates them.

Although they were originally used as housing, they'd been abandoned. Now, they are being transformed into boutique, short-term-stay villas for visitors seeking the charming, small-town treasures found only in Minden, Louisiana. It's apparent that the "beauty sleep" has served the villas well, because they're becoming even lovelier than before.

"It's exciting to see them start to match the vision I have in my head," Sara says.

Macro details, such as full-scale lead remediation and water rerouting, are well underway, but it's the heartfelt micro details that truly reveal the villas' souls and what's yet to come.

One such micro project Sara is currently overseeing is the recreation of the old-world fireplace mantels seen in each villa.

LIGHT MY FIRE

The designer in Sara loves fireplace mantels.

"There are so many kinds, and they add so much to a room," she says.

Her personal cottage features its original mantel-a stunning surround that entirely covers the fireplace.