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THE DRESSING MIRROR An elegant yet rustic barn wood standing mirror. It is composed of barn and granary woods from the De Young ranch. All of our furnishings created from woods from the De Young ranch carry the family brand that was used for all life stock during the lifetime of the ranch. The owners have graciously allowed us to use this old branding iron to leave a mark on our work using materials from the ranch. The De Young ranch is located out of Kalispell, Montana. The barn and outbuildings very in ages from around 1890 onward. The ranch was an operating dairy until sometime in the 1980s. The homestead has lived it's lifetime and is now beginning a new life in our work. Much of this mirror is created from the old granary. A granary on a farm is an important place. It houses all the grain used for feed for the animals, On the ranch that meant it fed the horses which once pulled equipment as well as the cattle and chickens. Now, a little history on the materials used to bring this Mirror together. Starting with the base. The large base is part of a beam that supported the old granary. It was reused on the granary after a first life as part of an old wooden bridge. So the age is hard to identify. The basic structural frame work composed from woods that worked hard for years as part of the old granary building. From the structural aspect we layered in red trim boards from the outside of the large dairy barn. The other trims on the mirror are cattle shaped and weather worn woods from the inside of the dairy barn. Metal trim is used to top this off. It comes from the old farm equipment parts and pieces found in the tool shop. As with all A Piece of History Montana's work we build high end furnishing which are put together with appropriate cabinet makers materials. You will not see any of this since we also believe that history based work such as this should not have any such thing showing. All screws are covered with nails that we hand pull from the building materials. We then cut the tops off to use to cover any new products used to assemble.
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Aunty's
Is a combination of two Montana farm kids, along with their families and friends who are supporting them in this big life change and dream of helping to preserve and share the history of many old woods, metals, and stone from Montana.
We remove old buildings with a gentle touch in hopes to salvage and breath new life into as much of the materials as possible. Right down to saving those little old rusty nails and other goodies found from days gone by. You will notice that many of our pieces will incorporate parts and pieces of metal from old farm life. James also enjoys hand forging metal that blend well with our work style.
We try to get the history of each location of where the materials come from we use in our creations. This is not just for the old farms but also, the trees that produce those big slab tables, the stumps that provide some very fun bases. Even those big old rocks have a history from where they have set most of their lives. It is very important to us to be able to share the history of each piece we produce. These beautiful time worn places deserve recognition of their by products. Just as every owner of one of our pieces can be proud and have bragging rights with the knowledge of where their work of art has came from.
Which, hey, it's just A Piece of History from Montana.
We prefer to build custom art pieces that cater to our clients and their homes. We have a very creative side and hold to the belief that anything is possible. The bigger the challenge the more we love it.
We not only work with old woods, we also carve both wood and stone. Everyone should have a stone sink, right? You just can't take the rock away from the mason.
We love working with old bones and antlers, both painting and carving. These are detailed all the way down to native style bead-work, old paint techniques and mosaics done with gemstones. We do custom finishes for those who want new pieces that appear old in both woods and metals.
Our work can be seen by appointment by contacting us.
Our home showcases our work and can be viewed at this link:
http://www.motherearthliving.com/green-homes/laudhome.aspx#axzz3InUUPdaL
It was filmed by the Discovery Channel for Worlds Greenest Homes.
Other works can be seen in Architectural Digest June 2003, Big Sky Journal Home Première Issue Vol. 1, Rustic Home by Ralph Kylloe, amongst other magazines.
Thank you so very much for taking the time to stop by our page.
We appreciate your time very much.
James and Mary
- JM
Jerry Mize
For Jerry's TeePee wall sconces5.0Everything about this project was great. It was like a dream come true. I am well pleased with everything.
- CM
Chris McKeever
For Mantel5.0James and Mary helped us by making a custom mantel for our newly redesigned fireplace. We could NOT have been more pleased!! I had an idea in my head what I wanted my new mantel to look like, but struggled to articulate it to them. They asked all the right questions, I gave them a few pictures and somehow they were able to read my mind and create the exact vision I had in my head. Their pricing was great, they were in constant communication throughout the process (heck - they even sent photos of the work in progress), and while shipping was expensive, it seemed very reasonably priced considering it was a 100+ lb., 10 foot long mantel that was getting sent across half of the country! Have no doubt or trepidation starting a project with James and Mary, their work and professionalism is both top notch!
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