@David Handel The second picture is a profile of the fire place. It looks to me like there is a panel placed over the original brick and then this finish done on the panel. I could definitely be wrong about that. The idea being we want just a standard drywall finish as opposed to the 'Venetian Plaster' you mentioned. We can' tear anything off yet because the appraiser needs to come back through. I think if we just prime and paint it will not bond very well and we would still have the texture showing through. It's not the style we're going for and I think is was done by an amateur. Thanks for the response.
@Marcus Curtis It does look to be in overall good condition, just not very well executed. We picked up some of supplies last night and will be testing a few areas to see what works best.
@Jonathan Key Definitely not pretty and definitely not what we are looking for. The property is a mid-century modern and judging by the color choices and the neighbors, the old owner was a bit eclectic. I'll try to get better before pictures as well.
