This contemporary home in Monterey has a first floor stone veneer surrounding
the entire house, anchoring it in the hillside above the lake. We wanted
the stonework large to match the scale of the house and deft enough to
match its style. We chose a freshly quarried granite from the next town
over. About 80% of the veneer are smaller pieces. To create a more dynamic
scale we incorporated large slabs which we split down as needed. These
large pieces serve as accents and drive the overall flow of the stonework.
All the joints were kept a consistent .5” wide and the joints were raked
back .5” as well, creating a uniform field of solid stone.
The focal point of the interior of the house is its large fireplace. Here
we used a reclaimed marble which we had cut out of blocks originally quarried
and used in a nearby Berkshire town. The marble was partially cleaned giving
it a fresh look while leaving much of its years of patina. A white lime
mortar was used to match the marbles history and color. The large raised
hearth is a single piece of Danby Marble with a historic detail of chiseled
margins and pointed finish. A smaller fireplace on the screened porch continues
use of the exterior granite veneer. The large slabs used on the fireplace
demonstrate their impact on the flow of its stonework.
A large raised entry patio bridges the gap from the natural surroundings
to living space. Two large garden beds are built into the patios deck formed
by voids in the stone pattern. The patio edges are defined by a raised
bench seat with granite coping stones. The far ends of the patio create
dramatic 15’ retaining walls with a granite staircase leading to a private
walkout basement patio area overlooking the water.