Perhaps you could frame it out with sheetrock and add a marble fireplace surround. Or plaster over the stones and paint over it.

Unless the house is 100 years old, there is no way those stones are anything more than decorative. Like tile. If you are serious about it, you can just tear them off and fix whatever mess is underneath.

I had a similar problem. I framed out the offending area with sheetrock and painted it. Worked like a charm.

Maybe they look worse up close than in the photo, but I'm not offended by them. The wall seems like it could be a great counterpoint to a room full of clean furniture, with some sleek accessories and bold art on the boulder wall. I would paint the mantle and/or replace it with a super-simple one, and then work on everything else in the room.

hang large scale art over it?

Hmm...Here in the West, stone walls are really rare, and to my eye the wall looks quite nice! The room still looks pretty modern, so personally I would go with it and work some decor around it.

What kind of copyright is that on the photo?

I think you'd benefit from hiring a contractor frame over the wall o' stones and use fire rated drywall to give you a nice new wall which you can do, pretty much, anything to. They could even rough in some built in storage/cabinets if you so desire.

Just make sure everything's up to code, and you should be golden.
Good luck!

I have the same problem and I'm going to try make the wall a feature. I think you should rearrange your furniture and use this living room for inspiration:
http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&listingid=1051478

Nevermind, it must be from the real estate listing company.

My first thought was that that picture was an example of a stone wall and not your particular stone wall. This wall looks pretty nice to me.

The mortar joints look nice and the stone is pretty neutral. I would take off the mantle and insead, mount a nice sculptural element on the wall.

A nice wood floor and a warm window treatment would change the entire perspective of the room. Hopefully there is another place to situate a t.v. and sofa because that's not doing much to help the room.

That said, if you really want to get rid of the wall, I would tear it down. If you attempt to frame the wall out and sheetrock it, you will be overhanging the firebox and hearth.

I don't know about California but the Pacific NW sees a fair amount of stone fireplaces, especially from homes built in the 70's up into the early 80's that were contemporary to mildly modern and often paired with rough ceder paneling, often stained dark.

Some good friends used to own a large 6 bedroom home that they bought new in 1972 and the living room had dark paneled ceder strips on the walls and a tounge and grooved beamed cathedral ceiling, shag carpeting originally and a stone fireplace between two narrowish tall windows that looked out into the backyard and lots of trees (mostly in the area behind their yard) and needless to say, it was dark and depressing to say the least.

Then around 1990 or so, they redid the place and had all the old shag taken out for something a little lighter and nicer, lightened the paneling and ceiling and added two skylights to the living room and it brightened up the room considerably but the stone fireplace remained though.

paint it a glossy stark white and it will look chic and textural.

Unless it looks worse in person I love it. I'd love curling up on the couch and looking at that wall.

And I should say that in the photo above, it looks nice and I'd have no qualms about leaving it and in my previous post, it was in response to SFGail. It may not go with an ultra modern look bit it can work with a more contemporary/rustic look just fine, for true modern, I'd have wanted a more sleek firebox instead.

If your home is a true mid-century modern (think 50's-60's) you might want to do a bit of research and learn about the architects/designers of the era like the Eames brothers, Saarinen and Eichler. You might find that you would be destroying the very thing that makes it valuable. Mid century is going through the roof in popularity but the east coast is a bit behing on that trend. If your home in circa 1970 or newer then it's probably a cheap-o imitation and you can probably have a contractor demo it pretty easily.

Personally I think the stone wall is the best feature in this room. The fan is horrible, the track lighting is horrible and the window treatments look unrefined and sloppy. And the neutral color palette is not helping matters. Paint the mantel a dark brown and liven up the space with dark wood floors, substantial window treatments, cooler paint colors and bright accents.

Ray and Charles Eames were husband and wife, not brothers. Speaking of research.

ditto everything said by hejiranyc. It's a nice architectural detail, you might be surprised by how great it looks with a few other changes around the room.

i say sheetrock it and then go to a salvage yard and find a cool old mantle. that's what i would do!

Agree with the group who thinks other things should be changed. The white flimsiness of the mantel, curtains, fan do not at all match with the masculine stone wall. I think a gloss on the stone wall to bring out the natural beauty of the rocks along with the dark brown color treatment suggested by hejiranyc could turn this into a stunning room.

PS: the white walls and ceilings definitely need painting too!

If you don't like the wall, I'd say sell the house to someone who will appreciate it, rather than tear it down. It's a nice feature.

I disagree with hejiranyc though, in that I think the dark wood clashes with the stone. I'd go with lighter furnishings. Birch, or blonde tone wood may work.

I agree that heavier curtains would be an improvement.

Keep the stone! If you don't appreciate it, will yourself to do so. It looks to be lovely and has tremendous potential.

I would like to see that mantel shelf dropped down to the top of the firebox. That would create more Frank Lloyd Wright, midcentury modernist proportions. As it is, the shelf being so ridiculously high up only serves to emphasize how unfortunately puny the actual firebox is.

Get rid of the sucky fan, track lighting and curtains like everyone says, and find a couple of earthy modernist furnishings to complement the stone--some Hans Wegner or Nakashima or Noguchi or Aalto or such.

I'd also replace that existing (painted?) mantel shelf with a really gorgeous slab of natural wood. Perhaps a long, thick slab of teak or cypress, hand waxed. Maybe even with the front edge left in a naturalistic cleft instead of being cut square.

Simple Solution: make a Wall to Wall wooden 3 sided U-shaped cover that is 6in high or bigger that would slide over top of the existing mantle/stone supports. Stain it a nice contrasting Warm Antiqued brown or Chocolate brown color.

Paint the walls a color that contrasts the stone (its too neutral) and upgrading the fan to a nicer one (or a Chandelier) would also help create the Cleaner style your going for.

Other Solution: Consider adding small built-in cabinets on top of the hearth on either side of the fireplace (this could hide your TV, store Firewood, Books, etc) and let some of the stone remain uncovered around the edge of the fireplace so it relates to the stone above/below. Connect the built-ins with a thick wall to wall mantle.

Just some thoughts that could help you save $$ and wouldn't be as messy/pain staking as removing or painting over the stone.

It look like you answered your own question:

"I'd love a cleaner look, with a regular mantle and a plain wall or built in shelves."

You could paint over the stone (!) a lovely off-white..will give the greek sun touched look. Will subdue the stone (though I think its a lovely feature), but still you will have a beautifully textured wall

http://anindiansummer-design.blogspot.com/

Thank you everyone for your help.
I think some of you missed the part where I said...this isn't our home and we are considering buying it. Also not our furniture, window treatments, etc. I do appreciate the stone. It is interesting, however just not my taste and not my style. I'll consider the options.
thanks AT!

Amanda -

I feel your pain - we bought a house that had an entire wall of rust/orange/red brick around the fireplace and I hated it. My fiancee didn't want to paint the brick but I convinced him it had to be done and it looks much better.

Good luck with the house hunting!

awe. i love the stone wall! :[

I think if the house otherwise fits your needs take it. Move your stuff in, and see what the room feels like.

Take the mantel/shelf down, and consider the options. It may be a nice soft 'pop' in an otherwise neutral modern room....