Stone Dimensions - Fall/Winter 2007 - (Page 7)

Creating Authentic Style with Stone Heather E Adams Founder and co-owner, Natural Stone Design When you close your eyes and imagine a dwelling built many centuries ago, what do you see? Are you transported to a romantic medieval castle in the south of France or a quaint farmhouse nestled in the rolling hills of Tuscany? Maybe you envision a Villa set high above the jagged coastline of the Mediterranean Sea or a thatched roof cottage hidden within the mystical forests of England? Let your imagination take you further, reach out, can you feel the undulating smoothness of the hand-troweled plaster, the roughness of the massive wooden beams and the coolness of the rugged chiseled stone? How does it make you feel to be embraced by natural beauty so alive and steeped with character that there is no need for further embellishment or decoration? These visions represent the splendor of natural building materials. Clay, wood and stone; their combined visage has the ability to whisk you away to another time and place. Their presence alone emits a tangible energy that no man-made material has ever been able to rival. Once upon a time, long ago, the only way to truly experience these antediluvian architectural examples was to pack your bags, grab your passport and hop aboard the next transatlantic flight. Now you need only to pick up your car keys and drive to the nearest luxury home development, most likely just down the road. When clients come to me with the desire to create a “new old house” I know instinctively that natural stone will play a pivotal role in achieving the look and feel they are after. To be successful in recreating an authentic period style home, the best choice is always “the real thing” or antiquated materials have been carefully reclaimed from pre-existing Old World structures. Unfortunately, the costs associated with these salvaged materials can be quite staggering. For those of us working within a more realistic budget, the next best thing then becomes a reproduction material. Thankfully manufacturers have become increasingly talented at the process of replicating the look and feel of aged stone. Through innovative processes such as tumbling, chiseling, guillotine-cutting, acid-washing, bush-hammering, wire-brushing, sandblasting, etching, and attention to details such as historically accurate random setting patterns, homeowners now have at their fingertips a wealth of material from which to convey the appearance of stone that has seemingly endured a lifetime of wear. Kitchen with Venezian granite in color Lido www.stonedimensionsmagazine.com StoneDimensions 7 http://www.stonedimensionsmagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Stone Dimensions - Fall/Winter 2007

Contents Featured Designer: Heather E. Adams: Creating Authentic Style with Stone Pricey, But Worth It: Kitchen & Bath Design News Masters of Design Awards Success the Second Time Around: Remodeling a Master Bath Gallery of Ideas Hard Rock...Easy Choice: Granite is Truly a Stone for the Ages White Marble: Gaining Popularity in Kitchens Travertine Index of Photographs

Stone Dimensions - Fall/Winter 2007

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