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oldhometara

Where to buy a nice looking mailbox?

oldhometara
15 years ago

Anyone have some good sources for buying a nice mailbox, large enough for today's needs but suitable for an old home? I will of course do a google search, but thought I'd start here. I have seen the ones offered by Rejuvenation, Resto Hardware and Van Dykes - all nice, but so far nothing has knocked my socks off. If anyone has some ideas, I'd be very appreciative!

Thanks.

Comments (7)

  • borngrace
    15 years ago

    Try:

    www.smithandhawken.com
    www.walpolewoodworkers.com

    just do a search for mailboxes on the general site and some nice choices come up --- nothing I could EVER do here since every new mailbox that goes up get whacked within the week by teenagers with nothing better to do :-(

    hth

  • johnmari
    15 years ago

    I got mine on eBay.

    What age/style house are you purchasing for? What color finish do you like? That would help in making more specific recommendations of where to look.

  • oldhometara
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    borngrace, thanks for those 2 sites, I will check both of them out.
    johnmari, I was hoping you would see my question b/c in another thread you said there's lots of great sources out there for mailboxes! You're lucky that you found one on ebay. I've been keeing an eye on ebay but so far haven't found "my" mailbox. I don't even know exactly what I want it to look like. Definitely wall mounted. A dark, black, iron type finish might look best b/c of our porch light fixtures/etc, but I think copper mailboxes are beautiful. And a wood one would work too. Shiny brass is no good. I once tried an antique creel fishing basket - it looked nice but wasn't sturdy enough. I don't know what is historically appropriate - the house was built right around 1900. It has some Victorian elements, but I think anyone who knows architecture (I don't!) would say it's really more of a Colonial/Revival/Edwardian style home. We're going to paint the exterior grey, with mostly white trim and one or two accent colors - maybe dark blue - to draw attention to some of the nicer wood details. Hope that helps. Any ideas you have would be very much appreciated!
    Thanks.

  • allison1888
    15 years ago

    Here's one link I found -- would work well for an old house. http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/13136.shtml

    Here is a link that might be useful: mailboxes

  • patser
    15 years ago

    Have you looked at Arroyo Craftsman? Check under Accessories.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Arroyo Craftsman mailboxes

  • johnmari
    15 years ago

    I understand completely where you're coming from with having a house straddling multiple styles. My house - below - was also built in 1900 and sort of splits the difference between Late Victorian vernacular (with a few surviving Eastlake details, although we know there were more once upon a time, and it was always a modest millworker's house) and some Arts & Crafts. On the one hand it's nice to not be confined to one style, but on the other hand it is admittedly easier to have your choices narrowed down for you already! (Let's not
    talk about the vinyl siding and vinyl replacement windows, please... :-))

    Anyway, I'm a copper freak so I knew from square one that I wanted a copper mailbox, but it still took me months to get

    , and half of that was dithering around that the one I'd picked was too cute or silly! I ended up justifying it to myself that the brass strapping would coordinate with the brass Eastlake doorknobs and twist doorbell - at least once I strip the dozen layers of paint off them, anyway. :-) I've gotten a lot of compliments on it, so I guess it's working okay. PO put up these horrible black plastic pseudo-Mission flushmount light fixtures that I try hard to ignore for now, since I can't afford to replace them, but I covet the "Alton" pendant fixture from Rejuvenation, kooky as it may be.

    I did come thisclose to getting this Ecco copper mailbox but it was backordered for ages. The description calls it contemporary but for me it has as much of an early 1900s Arts & Crafts-ish sense as it does an early 2000s modern one.

    If you liked the antique fishing creel but were just worried about the durability factor, why not get a new one? If the location is somewhat protected it should hold up fairly well, especially if you sprayed it with a matte clearcoat finish, and you could give it a more aged look by rubbing it with thinned-down craft paint (wipe on, rub off) before putting on the clearcoat.

    As for sources of vintage-style mailboxes in general, there are some good shopping directories at Period Homes, Old House Interiors, Old House Journal.

  • oldhometara
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Thanks everyone for the great leads! I'll try to remember to post again when I finally choose a new mailbox.

    johnmari, your house is beautiful!