Just going down to the basement dear.

Here we have a three-fold knock out combination… the beauty of natural stone, the added elegance of a curved stairway, and as a finishing touch… all that wonderful natural light pouring in from the staircase window.

Of course today our building codes would demand a handrail on that staircase. I wonder what the kings of old would have said to the local building inspector upon being given an inspection failure slip? lol

I don’t know if I will ever achieve a staircase like this for myself, but I do my best when designing or building a home to make sure that a window finds it’s way into the staircase.

Originally posted 2015-08-27 14:02:41.

Here we have two fine homes…
The first, with white trim work, is the oldest home in Washington DC.
The second is the oldest home in the state of Georgia.
A stone home just can’t be topped can it?

Originally posted 2015-08-25 15:46:46.

Life in New England during the winter was hard. Many of the homes there were literally built around a fireplace to keep all the heat generated and stored within it’s masonry in the home.

Here’s a great illustration on the importance our ancestors placed on a stone chimney when building their homes.

We gained a heat pump, but lost so much.

Originally posted 2015-08-24 13:17:34.

Although a fireplace like this one from an English castle would not be practical in today’s home… still… it is worth pondering. What is it about this room that is so visually striking and how can that be adapted to your dream home?

The benefits of having a large fireplace…

1) No need to cut your firewood up into tiny, easy-to-handle pieces.
2) No need to cut your meat up into individual servings before cooking… just cook the whole pig!
3) Imagine the heat this fireplace would give off when fully stoked!
4) Plenty of room for you and your friends to stand around the fire.

Whose got the marshmallows?

Originally posted 2015-08-24 13:05:24.

Which do you prefer?
The traditional method of gathering stone found on the property and laid in a horizontal pattern?
Or, the more modern use of stones gathered from rivers and stream beds and applied in a random pattern?

For me the answer is obvious.  The field stone chimney will stand strong for millennia without the aid of cement. But remove the cement from the river rock chimney and you’d have a pile of bowling ball shaped stones spread out across your yard.

Originally posted 2015-08-17 16:33:46.

When it comes time to build the stone fireplace in a cabin there is one major decision to be made… would you like an arch? or a single lintel stone?

Originally posted 2015-08-09 13:36:43.

For those who love log cabins and stone… HUGE stones.

Originally posted 2015-08-01 13:59:00.

Everything you need to know about how to build a nice stone arch in one photo!

I’ve always liked a “proud” keystone. One that rises a couple of inches above the other stones that make up the arch.

Originally posted 2015-07-27 14:19:57.

It’s all in the details.

Take a look at the chisel held in master mason, Dan Smith’s, hand… you can barely see it from the vibration after being struck with a stone hammer.

Dan is here shaping the tapered course of a soon to be built solid stone chimney.

Nice stone isn’t it?

Originally posted 2015-07-27 14:12:32.

We once restored a stone home in Northern Virginia… it was a mess when we began, and a beauty when we finished.

Originally posted 2015-07-18 12:22:35.