Note: This article is part of a series about American quarries. If you work for a quarry that’s a member of the Natural Stone Institute and you’d like your quarry to be featured here, contact Karin Kirk. Thank you!

Arizona’s desert landscape is famous for its shades of the sunset. Cliffs, canyons, and mesas of russet orange and tawny brown have become icons of the American Southwest.

Among sweeps of tan, red, and grey rock sits a surprise: A pocket of gleaming white marble.

Even the geologic map makes barely a passing mention of it—but the stone is a spectacular find that rewards those who look deeper.

The legacy of minerals

The Cochise Marble quarry is located near Bowie, AZ in the Chiricahua Mountain range. The region is the ancestral lands of Apache tribes and was acquired by the United States from Mexico in 1848. American military expeditions, surveyors, and prospectors set out to explore the territory, striking gold in the Chiricahua Mountains in 1860.

Decades of struggle ensued, writing more chapters in the ages-long battle between resource extraction and indigenous people that has been repeated throughout history. Though it’s a difficult part of our American story, the Cochise Marble company tries to honor the origins of the land and the people who lived here before us. The crew operates with a light touch on the landscape with a goal to diligently use all materials extracted from the land.

Cochise County, named after the revered Apache Chief, has derived much of its prosperity from ores and minerals. The area has been home to gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc mining. These metallic deposits were formed when molten magma melted its way through older sedimentary layers. Fluids circulating through the hot rocks concentrated the metals, which eventually solidified into veins within the rock.

The heat from the magma had another effect—it warmed up the surrounding rocks, causing localized changes that are too small to appear on most geologic maps. Near the crest of the Chiricahua mountains, the Escabrosa limestone was heated and recrystallized, changing it from a sedimentary rock to a metamorphic one, and transforming 300-million-year-old marine limestone to a white marble of rare quality.

“Are you sure that’s from Arizona?”

Camden Mueller, marketing manager for Cochise Marble, recalls a common occurrence. People look at our stone and say, “Oh is this Italian?” Camden recalls one anecdote at a trade show, when he explained the stone is from Arizona. An onlooker exclaimed, “I live in Tucson! There’s no way. That’s impossible.” Camden is accustomed to having to explain the unlikely stone, having done it many times before. “So I showed her a video. I said, ‘No, here it is, look! I promise I’m not pulling your leg.’”

Josh Gonzalez, a co-owner at the company, picks up the story from there. “I think people expect more of the brown colors that you see out here. They’re like, ‘Oh it’s Arizona, western, it’s the desert, there’s no way there’s marble.’” Josh describes the frequent questions: “’Is that 100% marble?’ And we’re like, ‘Yes, it’s 100% marble.’” Josh breaks into a laugh as he replays the conversation. “Are you sure?” “Yes, I’m sure.” “Has it been tested?” “Yes, it has.”

The element of surprise is an obvious source of pride. It hints at the uniqueness of the quarry and the commitment of the company to bring Arizona marble to a market that might not expect it.

“Let’s start digging.”

Marco Gonzalez is involved with strategic planning for the company. He’s also Josh’s uncle. Marco has logged more than 30 years working with stone. “I love it every day,” he says. Marco, Josh, and Camden shared the story of the origins of the quarry, beginning in 1908.

Josh muses, “Sometimes you wonder, like, back in 1908 who said, ‘Oh right here. Marble. Let’s start digging.’”

The original quarry operated for around thirty years, and like so many historical quarries, it shut down, sitting idle for over six decades. In 2002, a local businessman and cattle rancher named Matt Klump set his eyes on reopening the quarry. At the time, the quarry was owned by a family in Texas, who didn’t even realize they owned it. Josh explains, “Matt approached them and said, ‘Hey you guys own this quarry.’ And they’re like, ‘We own a quarry?’”

The Klump family purchased the quarry and created the Arizona Marble Company. Matt then built a partnership with Josh and Marco to launch Cochise Marble, LLC. Matt is an integral part of the operation. “We’re all active in this quarry,” says Marco. “We all work together.”

Bringing the quarry back to life took about two years. “We knew that there was an investment for us to work our way into this quarry,” Marco recalls. “Once we decided we were ready – and that was about eighteen to twenty-four months into it – the investment was in place, we had all the right equipment, the right personnel – that’s when we went to market.”

But starting from scratch is an uphill climb. “Did the projects just come flowing in? No,” says Marco. “We have to go out there. Hence the reason that Camden is working for us in marketing and merchandising.”

After a few years building their inventory and forging new networks, the company now has traction in commercial projects. Business is steady, and Cochise marble will be part of a four-year long commercial project that will be the company’s largest contract to date.

An ethos of efficiency

“One thing to say about Matt,” says Camden. “He is the one who really instilled the idea of using every single piece of marble.”

Blocks and slabs are the high-profile quarry products, but smaller pieces are cut into veneer, and leftover remnants are crushed into gravel. “But then it even gets finer than that,” says Camden. When gravel is crushed down, some sand is produced. White sand is used for decorative planters and as an ingredient in cement. The 99% purity of the marble means it can be processed into a refined powder for adhesives and pigments.

“So, from the sand to the block … every piece is being used,” says Camden.

“It’s environmental,” Marco adds. “For us it’s not only business. It helps our environment.”

A locally-derived product is another way to trim one’s environmental impact. Moreover, rising fuel prices and bottlenecks in the global supply chain make a domestic stone all the more appealing. “We are getting more inquiries because people want to buy American,” says Marco.

Quarry taking shape

The team describes the company’s vision and roadmap for the stages of quarry development. The Cochise crew hired a master quarrier from Europe to help them assess the rock layers. “He did his due diligence on the quarry,” says Marco, which allowed the team to move ahead with their plan and begin quarrying.

Currently, the company is cutting blocks from the same general area that was originally worked 100 years ago. This horizon contains white, black, grey, and multi-colored marble. Cochise White is a pure white marble with subtle veining, lending an airy, ethereal vibe to the stone.

A little higher on the hillside is another set of ledges that contain white marble and a grey-blue marble. Higher still, there’s one more deposit. Marco describes it: “The very top is where we have a very, very unique stone. It’s a beautiful white marble. The background is similar to the Statuary marble out of Italy, with black veining.” In honor of the Apache warrior who dedicated his life to protect his homeland, the marble is named Geronimo. “It will take us some months where we have a steady supply of it,” says Marco, with a mixture of pride and anticipation.

Camden picks up the storyline from there. “We have another unique stone—the signature stone. And our master quarrier when he first saw the stone, he stood on top of it and he called it ‘caviar.’ It has about six colors in it. So, we named it ‘American Caviar.’ It’s a stone that is only found in one place in the world.”

American Caviar is a blend of dark grey calcite marble with layers lenses of light grey, silica-rich chert. Chert is a common ingredient of limestone, and it forms as small accumulations of nearly pure silica on the sea floor. The silica hardens into oval-shaped layers or rounded nodules, and they tend to stand out from the limestone in both color and texture. When the Escabrosa limestone was transformed into marble, the original pattern remained, giving the stone a large-scale spotted appearance. Hence, the name. American Caviar offers a bold pattern that works as a landscape feature or as dramatic bookmatched slabs.

A creative approach

Camden credits some out-of-the-box thinking that helped them bring their products to market. “It comes down to a little bit of our creativity,” he says. “As a marble quarry everybody expects slabs, stair treads, pavers, things like that. But we’ve really brainstormed to bring new products to the market.” The company offers firepits, water features, and textured paving stones. “Those aren’t things that you see every day,” says Camden. When people see products crafted from this southwestern marble, Camden describes their reaction as “amazing.” He continues, “They’re so excited to see this. And it’s just been a domino effect where people say, ‘Oh my gosh I want one.’”

The exploration of new products from an unlikely stone is a fitting example of the intricacies of geology—from a huge planet, we find joy in small and beautiful details. All the better when it surprises us.

More from the American Stones Series

Photos courtesy of Gabriela Ginsburg, Rugo Stone. An earlier version of this article appeared in the Fall 2021 edition of Building Stone Magazine.

2021 marked the 50th anniversary of the renowned John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, located in the heart of Washington, D.C. aside the Potomac River. In its first 50 years, the Center has carried President Kennedy’s call to action forward as the United States National Cultural Center. Its objective is to invite art into the lives of all Americans and ensure it represents the cultural diversity of the nation. Presenting over 2,200 performing arts shows and events each year, the Kennedy Center is one of the most-visited presidential monuments in the United States.

In 2013, a 60,000-square-foot expansion project on four acres of the Center’s South Plaza commenced, led by architect Steven Holl of Steven Holl Architects in New York City. The expansion, entitled “The REACH,” added three pavilions— connected underground to form an expansive facility that provides additional classrooms, rehearsal, and performance spaces—as well as extensive landscaping, with a reflecting pool, tree grove, sloping lawn for outdoor performances, and a pedestrian bridge over Rock Creek Parkway. It was completed in 2019.

According to the Kennedy Center’s website, “The REACH is a place where visitors, audiences, and artists can come together for collaboration, experimentation, and exploration in the spirit of President Kennedy’s vision for a new frontier for the arts. Many of the spaces were named after historical and personal moments in his life as an expression of our role as his living memorial.”

The design for The REACH “merges architecture with landscape to expand the dimensions of a living memorial,” according to Steven Holl Architects.

To recognize all who helped make the expansion possible, a 1,200-square-foot wall of Bianco Carrara marble was created in the lobby of the new Welcome Pavilion, the main entry to all other spaces at The REACH. Known as the “Gratitude Wall,” it was engraved with names of each donor.

“We selected this specific location because of its prominence and because it offered a large canvas for us to create something interesting and elegant,” said Raymundo Pavan Gutierrez, senior spatial designer at Bruce Mau Design in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who spearheaded the design of the wall. “The geometry of the piece is inspired by the shape of the pavilions, and it’s defined by the marble finish. While the original concept was not specifically about the marble, it quickly became obvious that the selected stone was the right material to use. It provided us a visual connection with the existing donor recognition system at the original Kennedy Center Edward Durell Stone Building and allowed us to freely work on a beautiful layout for all the donor names.”

Bruce Mau Design worked in collaboration with the project manager, Paratus Group in Washington, D.C., who oversaw the construction. “The donor wall was a late introduction into the design,” said Andrew Klemmer, founder of Paratus Group. “Rugo Stone was the contractor to pull off this difficult inclusion of a really beautiful stone wall in a building that is all concrete. The client wanted something that was special, and Rugo came in and helped us create that.”

Rugo Stone in Lorton, VA specializes in stone fabrication and engraving and helped bring the ambitious design to life using sleek and subtle Bianco Carrara C white marble. “The REACH is primarily architectural concrete or plaster for all the exterior and interior wall finishes, although the plaster is expertly done, and the use of marble was considered a more noble surface for the donor recognition,” said Brett Rugo, owner of Rugo Stone. “The original John F. Kennedy Center is clad in Bianco Carrara, both on the exterior and interior, and the design team desired to use the same material produced in the late 1960s to bridge the two buildings designs.”

The marble used for the Gratitude Wall was supplied by Euromarble in Carrara, Italy. “The block we selected was produced from the same quarry that supplied the blocks for the project originally,” said Roberto Canali, owner of Euromarble. “We placed special attention on this job because my father was the general manager of Alberto Bufalini, the company that originally supplied all of the marble for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1968, 1969, and 1970.

“I’ve heard many stories about the project since I was a kid,” he continued. “Edward Durell Stone selected Carrara White marble for this enormous project— 3,700 tons—and considering the time, this was one of the jobs that started the marble industry. The marble was a donation to the U.S. from the Italian government.”

Euromarble supplied around 1,250 square feet of 1 ³/₁₆-inch-thick Bianco Carrara C marble in a honed finish for the Gratitude Wall. About two dozen large-format panels, each measuring 8 feet, 9 inches long x 4 feet, 6 inches tall, were used to construct the wall.

“We traveled to Italy to source the most uniform block for the large panels,” Rugo explained. “The block selected was very uniform in background color and vein direction. This was critical, as our carvers would later have to engrave all the donors’ names on these large panels, and we didn’t want the stone veining to interrupt the visibility of the lettering.”

Multiple mock-ups were created during the design process for the lettering to develop the best solution to create a sharp font and contrast, according to Rugo. “A whole 1:1 wall was installed using vinyl to test the layout and legibility,” Pavan Gutierrez said. “We also had smaller samples where we could assess the depth for the etching and the color for the filling.

“We had to make sure that the final layout would work with the seams between the slabs, and we had to make sure we achieved optimum legibility by providing enough contrast between text and marble,” Pavan Gutierrez added. “We did this by mapping photos of every marble slab we had and creating an elevation where we designed a final layout.”

Euromarble’s virtual dry-laid system was utilized, which mapped out where each piece would go, labeling them accordingly for easy unpacking and installation. To ensure color and veining consistency, the marble panels were fully dry-set and inspected in Italy prior to being shipped to the United States.

Rugo Stone created a steel support system for the wall, which was installed prior to the grand opening on September 7, 2019. The installation of the wall only took about six weeks, while the engraving took an additional month after the official opening.

“Rugo helped us execute this in a finished lobby because of timing,” Klemmer explained. “Since the donor wall was still active and growing by the time of the grand opening, they gave us a way to open the building while we were still working out all of the names and all of the final details of how it would be accomplished. We did temporary lettering for the initial names on the wall and then came back after the opening to do the actual engraving. There were many changes, so it worked out well.”

Rugo’s engraving artisans returned to the open-to-the-public building to perform the engraving during the winter of 2020. “The owner was very much concerned about the dust that would accompany the engraving process,” Rugo said. “Understanding the owner’s concerns, as well as the hazards that sandblasting creates, our team created a dustproof scaffold system complete with a dust containment system designed to trap all the abrasive stone dust.”

The emergence of COVID-19 also inadvertently helped the team complete the engraving with as little disruption as possible. “Logistically, it was going to be hard to work with people in the building,” Klemmer said. “It was easier to engrave while the building was empty.”

Rugo’s engraving designer worked carefully with the owner’s graphic designer to prepare the computerized razor-cut lettering templates. “Our master carvers then mounted the templates with a very precise layout and set out to delicately sandblast the letters,” Rugo said. “The engraving was performed with the use of an inventive portable sandblasting booth system, designed particularly for owner-occupied projects, that allows for easy blasting and containing the medium and dust.”

With about 15 months to complete the entire project, the owner couldn’t be happier with the uniquely crafted focal point at the entry of The REACH. “The Gratitude Wall is truly a statement piece that gives a proper recognition for those individuals who helped fund the project,” Rugo said. “It was a true pleasure working on the addition to the Kennedy Center; the client and the architects were true professionals.”

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An earlier version of this article appeared in the Fall 2021 issue of Building Stone Magazine. Featured image courtesy of Shands Photographics.

Located on South Harwood Street across from Main Street Garden Park, the Dallas Municipal Building is one of the most renowned buildings in downtown Dallas. The 107-year-old building was built in the Beaux Arts style, with intricate stonework on the exterior and interior. A Texas Historic Landmark, the building served as the fourth City Hall for Dallas and housed the infamous assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

In 2009, Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a bill into law establishing the first public law school in North Texas, the University of North Texas (UNT) at Dallas College of Law. The school’s initial campus was in the Lee F. Jackson Building on Main Street but was expanded to include the Dallas Municipal Building in 2019. Shortly after, the Municipal Building was chosen to serve as the law school’s permanent home and the municipal courts were moved into a renovated Municipal Building Annex.

When the five-story building became the new home for UNT at Dallas College of Law, an extensive renovation project began to restore it to its original grandeur. State-of-the-art flexible classrooms, seminar rooms, instructional lab spaces, an onsite clinic resource center, faculty and administrative offices, and other support areas were added to accommodate 500 law students for day and evening classes.

Since few buildings of this era and historic significance survived in Dallas, renovations focused on preserving details from the building’s genesis to when it housed a historical figure, according to Chad C. Joyce, CBO, senior construction project manager at University of North Texas (UNT) System in Dallas. “For this project, it was important to represent the history of the building in two time periods—1914 when it was originally built and 1963 when Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and jailed inside this building,” he said. “Stone represents the beauty and grandeur of the original construction in 1914. Marble walls, columns, wainscoting, etc., play a significant role in the architecture of that period. Historic preservation architects took great effort to ensure that any in-place stone could be reused, and that new stone matched the original as closely as possible.”

The school collaborated with local architects Stantec Architecture and Architexas on the interior work for the project. Stantec Architecture was the lead architect on the interior design and renovation for UNT System, while historical preservation architects at Architexas were hired by Stantec Architecture to refurbish the interior spaces.

Revamping the Interior

The preservation architects at Architexas focused their efforts on restoring the interior finishes, with help from the teams at Tennessee Marble Company and Dee Brown, Inc. “The goal was the restoration or recreation of the building’s important character-defining spaces and features while integrating new technology and functionality to meet the needs of the University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law,” said Anne Stimmel, AIA, senior associate at Architexas in Dallas, TX. “Decorative stone details were among the most important of these character-defining features and critical to the realization of the project.”

Photo courtesy of Shands Photographics

Some significant areas of the police department and jail were preserved, such as the cell where Oswald was housed, while the rest of the building was restored using a variety of American marbles. In places where the original stonework could not be fixed or restored, replacement stone from all over the United States was used.

“On the first level, stone was used for basically everything from the ceiling down,” Joyce explained. “The corridor floors on three levels were originally stone but were damaged beyond repair from the installation of vinyl tile with black mastic. The old stone was removed and new white Cremino pavers were installed to closely match the original. Walls were full-sized veneers of Montclair Striato marble with a Champlain Black marble base and Tennessee Grey marble cornices, doorways, windows and trim. The second and third levels included the same materials in varying degrees of how high they came up on the walls.”

Restoring the building to its original grandeur was an arduous task, but the preservation architects at Architexas insisted on leaving no stone unturned. They followed strict observance of the preservation criteria. Matching the original stone types and finishes was held to the highest standard with no compromises.

“This was a LEED project and historic preservation is inherently green in its use of existing buildings and materials,” Stimmel said. “Original historic stone was intact in select locations and was restored. New stone selection was based on the marbles originally specified for the building at the time of its construction.

Stimmel shared that only the Tennessee marble was still available and was matched for color and pattern. “A single block of poor-quality Riverside marble was located at the original quarry with as much material as possible harvested for floor and stair restoration. For the remainder, substitute material was selected based on compatibility of the original design intent. Where original stone was unavailable, compatible new stone was selected.”

The team of fabricators at Dee Brown, Inc. in Richardson, TX, helped execute most of the interior restoration stonework, which was a feat. “The interior was a challenge within itself trying to get things as closely back to the original as possible,” said Dee Brown project manager Wally Daniels. “About 90% of what is on the first floor is original Riverside stone material, while the second and third floors are mostly new material with some Riverside incorporated. It took a lot of work and understanding from the architects to complete this project.”

Sourcing the Materials

Tennessee Marble Company was essential in bringing the interior spaces back to life, providing more than 18,000 square feet of finished stone products for the pavers, high wainscoting, columns, decorative base, grand staircase, ornate balustrades, and Newell posts turned on a lathe.

The company identified five types of domestic marble from various quarries, including one that hadn’t been quarried since the 1970s. “We worked directly with other quarries to source the stones we do not quarry,” said Josh Buchanan, business and relationship cultivator at Tennessee Marble Company in Friendsville, TN. “We quarry Quaker Gray and Champlain Black marbles. We sourced and fabricated Danby Striato, another type of marble from an abandoned quarry in Proctor, VT, which was at one time operated by Vermont Marble Company, as well as Alabama White marble.”

Although sourced and fabricated by Tennessee Marble Company, AM3 Stone in Bessemer, AL, supplied 7,000 square feet of 6- x 12-inch Alabama White marble in a 2cm thickness for the interior flooring.

“The primary intent was to match what was originally in the building, with no compromises,” Buchanan explained. “The marble from the abandoned Proctor quarry had not been quarried in 40+ years. We worked with Gawet Marble to locate about 25 blocks from the abandoned quarry that we trimmed and from which we selected final stone for fabrication.”

“Out of 25 blocks we got from the Proctor quarry, we should have yielded about 20,000 square feet of material, but only got around 3,000 square feet,” Daniels added. “There was between 9,000 and 10,000 square feet of paving that was used for inside, so that was only enough to do one floor.”

Buchanan detailed how the Montclair Danby Striato marble was utilized for the new interior flooring, while the other types of marble were used for various other features. “Alabama White marble was utilized as stair treads, and Striato marble was utilized as wall cladding and balustrade spindles,” Buchanan said.

The Quaker Gray marble was used to construct the balustrade, Newell posts, columns, tops, wall cladding and other trims, while the Champlain Black marble was selected for the bases, including the column base. Since only one block of Riverside Light Cloud marble was salvaged, it was used throughout the first few floors as accents.

Photo courtesy of Tennessee Marble Company

Because Tennessee Marble Company is familiar with the stones and quarriers that were involved in the project, they were able to acquire certain materials that would have otherwise not been possible. “We have a great relationship with the stone contractor, as well as great relationships with other domestic quarriers,” Buchanan said. “We were able to participate in site visits early on with the design and construction team and were able to source materials for all the stone products needed. We are lucky to have many trusted friends in the industry who were instrumental in completing this project.”

“Tennessee Marble Company and Gawet did a good job finding materials to match things with the original,” Daniels said. “It really blended in well.”

Recreating the Grand Staircase

Photo courtesy of Shands Photographics

Uncovering the original architectural elements that were concealed or removed during previous renovations was one of the biggest challenges. During the major renovations in 1956 and 1957, the building’s layout was completely reconfigured, with hallways moved and stairways repositioned.

One of the main features of the lobby, the “grand staircase,” was demolished during this renovation, which required ingenuity from all parties to recreate. “The stairway had been completely removed in the 1950s and only a few photographs exist that capture it,” Joyce said. “The stairs, apart from the steel structure, were made completely of marble, which included a continuous balustrade and handrail that tied to solid stone Newell posts. Fabrication of the materials was done by the Tennessee Marble Company, with shop drawings and installation by Dee Brown.”

Recreating the grand staircase was difficult to achieve, not only in matching the complex stone details and angles, but also in creating the layout and support structure.

Photo courtesy of Shands Photographics

“The grand stairway was really hard,” Daniels said. “Because of all the renovations—the structural steel was torn out and a lot of concrete had been demolished, floor decks had to be rebuilt—the elevator in the lobby wasn’t square, so when it came to laying things and making them line up, it made things very difficult. The structural engineer was having trouble figuring out how to design the supporting structure, so it took a team effort between Turner Construction [interior general contractor] and Dee Brown, Inc. to come up with a system to rebuild this grand staircase. The bottom steps are radial, so to use steel support under them is difficult. We were able to come up with a design that used lightweight concrete with foam forms so it would not put so much weight on that structure. All of the steel is under the straight stair treads. For the original staircase, all cubic material was used for the lower radial treads, so we had to lighten up the load. The radial steps are slab material now, but the Newell posts, radial bases, balustrades, handrails and handrail bases are all cubic as well. For those shapes, that’s the only way you can make them –start with a big block on the CNC machine, route it out and make it—which was a really difficult task.”

While the steel structure and stairs presented some unique challenges, the rail caps and the ramp and twist on the handrail and handrail base, which have very complex shapes, were the most demanding aspects to complete.

“The ramp and twist section of the balustrade was the most challenging stone product to fabricate,” Buchanan said. “It took advanced CNC programming and creative jigging to pull those off. The advanced programming detail work from our project manager, Ryan Cole, was instrumental in these coming out, and the handwork involved in finishing them is what contributed to the ultimate success. They came out beautifully.”

These facets of the staircase required careful planning and design, along with advanced CNC programming and creative solutions to balance, level and support the stones while being milled and hand finished. “It was like building a watch,” Daniels said. “Everything has to be precise to make it work.”

Tying Everything Together

All areas of the building required mock-ups since it was crucial to match the new and original stonework as closely as possible. “We created mock-ups of all portions of the work and those were reviewed by Architexas and Stantec Architecture,” Joyce said.

Countless hours were spent reviving this monumental structure over the course of roughly three years. “We started working with designers on stone selection about two years before the stone was supplied,” Buchanan said. “We worked on fabricating and finishing various stone products over the course of about a year. The project team and owner have expressed great appreciation and joy over the way the project turned out.”

“Reaction to this project, the adaptive reuse of a prominent and historic building within the City of Dallas that is expected to be in use indefinitely has been overwhelmingly positive,” Joyce said. “Also, transforming a building rich in legal history into the home of the UNT Dallas College of Law is a wonderful fit. The craftsmanship of this historic restoration is outstanding.”

“The restoration and reconstruction of the building’s interior design, including the decorative stonework, is beautiful,” Stimmel added.

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Color has profound psychological effects on our mind and body. After the uncertainty of the past two years, it is not surprising that color experts are predicting a turn to calming neutral earth tones in 2022. Natural stone trends are also moving to timeless, sustainable materials like white marble.

Colors Impact Our Health and Well-Being

Experts understand the power certain colors have on our health and well-being. For example, earth tone colors like greens and blues tend to be calming, while red can be perceived as bold or harsh, depending on the circumstances and application.

“We are seeing many homeowners embrace earth tones as an option to neutrals and using paint to create a sanctuary in the spaces around them by incorporating nature-inspired hues,” explains Sue Wadden, director of color marketing at Sherwin-Williams, where Evergreen Fog has been named Color of the Year.

“For example, green is becoming a popular color choice as people are thinking about how plants and trees can add life to a space and want to bring that feeling inside. Because of the versatility of the color, green can be paired with any style of design and décor to help create the mood you want for each room,” Wadden adds.

Similarly, Benjamin Moore’s October Mist is described as a gently shaded sage that quietly anchors a space while encouraging individual expression through color and creates a canvas for other colors. Both of these colors pair well with a variety of natural stones, from dramatically veined marbles to bright granites or quartzites.

“As the spaces in our homes continue to evolve, we uncover more opportunities to express our individuality and leverage the power of color to design environments that serve different functions and styles,” says Andrea Magno, Benjamin Moore’s director of color marketing and development. October Mist and the corresponding Color Trends 2022 palette reflect an effortless harmony of colors, while inspiring unique combinations for any paint project, according to Magno.

According to the team at Pantone, 2022 Color of the Year Very Peri is suited to an array of different materials, textures, and finishes, providing a pop of color whether introduced through a painted wall, statement furniture or home décor, or acting as an intriguing and eye-catching accent in a pattern. Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, says that her team felt it was time to “ignite our creative spirit with a bolder color.”

A dynamic periwinkle blue hue with a violet-red undertone, Very Peri colorways can work well with a variety of natural stone types.

White Marble: A Classic Material that Complements Trends

White marble has been used for centuries for both residential and commercial properties. Peter Prvulovic, director of sales and marketing for Vermont Quarries, believes white marble has and always will be a staple in the building industry. Vermont Quarries has sponsored the Natural Stone Institute’s 2022 Stone of the Year, which is Olympian White Danby marble.

“The nice part about white marble, in general, is the different types of veining it comes with,” Prvulovic says. “Depending on what you are building and what your vision is for your project, you can always find some type of white marble to achieve your goal.”

White marble has stood the test of time because it naturally shows worn areas that can bring the activity of the past to the present, says Jan Neiges, CMKBD, a certified master kitchen and bath designer with the National Kitchen & Bath Association and principal of Colorado-based Jan Neiges CKD LLC. Think of the beauty of worn marble steps and pathways as just one example.

“White marble is warm to the touch compared to the engineered quartz marble lookalikes,” Neiges adds. “You can’t replicate the veining in real marble with manmade materials. With new surfacing applications today, there is no reason to be afraid of real marble.”

She often notices clients use large marble sheets for backsplash areas in the kitchen, especially around a hood, or as waterfall for islands. Large material for showers helps to reduce grout lines. She has also seen clients use marble as a back wall treatment behind a freestanding tub.

White marble can imbue a sense of calm and serenity—just like the trending colors for 2022. It’s the reason so many homeowners opt to use the stone to create their own personal wellness space. According to Neiges, white marble pairs well with other materials, including wood, metal, and concrete.

Neiges feels so strongly about the material that she has white marble in her own home and one of the reasons she chose it was for its beauty as it ages.

Creating a Look All Your Own

Prvulovic understands the appeal of using natural stone. It’s a beautiful material that Mother Nature created. “It is not a material that someone printed or stamped,” he adds. “The beauty is the veining and movement that was created through the settlement of the material itself. As they say, often imitated but never duplicated. The beauty of natural stone is the fact that even same material used on different projects does not look the same.”

Like Neiges, there are reasons Prvulovic himself is drawn to marble. “I appreciate the fact that you can obtain slabs with very little to no veining or something that has large wild movement,” he says. “I am one of the odd people in this world who likes to see the movement in the material.”

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All photos courtesy of Ashley Goldman.

Hi! I’m Ashley, I’m a type-A homebody fixing up my historic home in San Diego, CA. My old house renovation is chronicled on my blog The Gold Hive. I’ve been slowly renovating my kitchen to create a new space fit for a modern family in an old home. While it’s taken me years to decide on the layout and cabinetry color, there was always one thing that was certain. Marble countertops.

It’s been a year since installing our dream marble counters. So, I’m reflecting on the experience of living with the natural stone. We’ve had many coffee spills, oil splatters, and citrus squeezes, so how is it holding up? I’ll tell ya!

First, let’s back up and go over why I chose marble. I elaborate on my entire thought process in this blog post, but in summary:

1. Our historic house deserved a classic material in keeping with its old age.
2. We wanted a work surface that had the visual movement and the physical texture of a natural stone rather than a manmade material.
3. We required a countertop that was ethically sourced, so we found a quarry that prioritizes worker safety, land reclamation, and required little transportation (learn more here).
4. We desired a material that would be timeless rather than trendy.

After browsing hundreds of stone slabs, I decided on Imperial Danby for its warm coloring, a honed finish for its ability to hide etches, and Vermont Quarries for the ethical sourcing of the stone. It couldn’t be a more perfect fit for our goals! I share more about the quarry and even link to an incredible tour of their facility here.

I went with a 2cm thick stone and didn’t add any thickness with an apron. I also added a backsplash with curvy cutouts and a small shelf to create something extra special. I adore the unique shapes yet the simplicity and timelessness of the marble. You can learn more about the design process here.

Once the slabs were installed, I immediately got to sealing the marble to prevent stains. I outlined the entire DIY process here.

Now, this is where marble gets a bad rap. Stains! Marble is indeed a porous material so it can take in penetrating liquids and stain. Think red wine, marinara sauce, coffee, turmeric. These things can indeed leave a serious mark on natural stones. But they can be prevented (and even reversed!)

So how have my countertops done with stains? I kid you not, they haven’t stained at all. I mean it! I worried about staining when a coffee ring went un-wiped for 12 hours, when the marinara sauce spilled, and when the berry kombucha bottle exploded. But not a single one of those incidents left a stain.

This is all thanks to the top-notch sealer that I used. I’m constantly impressed by the lack of stains!

The only discoloration in the stone is by the sink at the seam where the fabricators joined the two slabs. Water tends to pool in this high-use area and the seam started to yellow. However, this discoloration is easily reversed with a DIY poultice solution of baking soda and water (or hydrogen peroxide). See how to apply a poultice here.

Let’s take a brief intermission to admire the stone. Holy cow! I can’t get over the veining in this particular slab. The browns and greys are so lovely and add such warmth and character.

While stains are basically nonexistent in our countertops, there is a significant amount of etching. Etching occurs when acids like lemon juice dull the surface of the stone. These blemishes are only noticeable from certain angles as light hits the stone. See the photo above where the marble looks perfectly pristine, then compare it to the photo below.

That’s the same slab from a different angle. Do you see those faint marks near the sink? Those are etch marks. They are super common and nearly impossible blemishes to avoid. Etches bother some people, but I prefer to look at them as a natural patina on a natural stone. If folks love marble but don’t like etches, I recommend getting a honed finish rather than polished as the matte finish hides the etches best. And, for those really afraid of etches, there’s good news – it can be reversed! I’ll show you below.

First, here are more photos of the etches in my countertops.

They’re subtle, right?

This section of countertops takes the biggest beating. We do all of our meal prep here, pile dirty dishes here, and clean baby bottles here. This slab of counters has the most etches, but you only see them when the lighting hits them just right. Notice how they disappear in the shadows?

I’ve come to embrace the etches as the character of the stone. They demonstrate that our kitchen is a place of activity rather than an unused showroom. They are reminders of meals made and shared in our home. They’re gentle marks of history.

But, I understand that even the most sentimental person may not want to see etches in their precious counters. So the good news is the etches can be removed!

The etches disappeared with a couple of minutes of rubbing an etch remover product into the dulled mark. It’s a truly magical transformation.

I used the etch remover last year when I had a hard time seeing my freshly installed marble get its first blemish. But since then, I’ve let the etches pile up. Maybe one day I’ll buff the entire counter with the etch remover to start fresh. But more likely, I’ll let the stone naturally age and patina with wear.

Another worry folks have is staining from cooking oil by the stove. But frankly, I forgot all about this concern until I sat down to write this post. There are no stains or marks from stovetop cooking! Sure, we get some oil splatter on the backsplash, but it wipes right up.

That’s about it!

We used to be really sensitive around our counters, but now we don’t treat them so delicately. Sure, we try not to squeeze lemons directly onto the stone, we wipe up spills, and we’d never cut directly on them. But we don’t baby them beyond that. We simply keep them clean with a plant-based acid-free cleaner or dish soap and water.

So, would we install marble counters again? Absolutely! We love them and can’t imagine any other work surface material. I’ll happily be rolling out pie dough on this marble for many many more years.

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Kat Coleman, owner and principal of Long Beach, California-based Topkat Design Group, had a client who loved Carrara marble and wanted her entire bathroom to feature natural stone: main bathroom floor, shower floors, and walls with a decorative feature wall behind a claw-foot tub. “We are talking Ritz-Carlton style,” Coleman says.

Carrara marble. Photo courtesy of Kat Coleman, Topkat Design Group.

Coleman’s client was concerned the natural stone would be too high maintenance and possibly cost prohibitive. To try to meet her client’s aesthetic, Coleman searched for alternatives, but they were unsatisfied since those options just didn’t look or feel like the real thing.

The reality is genuine natural stone, like Carrara marble, cannot be mimicked. Coleman knew it was her job to educate her client and remind her that marble has been used for centuries. Many commercial settings use marble throughout high-traffic areas and hotel bathrooms successfully, and the sealers on the market have improved substantially over the last decade. She convinced her client that Carrara marble was the best choice for her bathroom.

“This was close to 10 years ago and her bathroom still looks like new,” Coleman adds.

Sealers and Grout for Natural Stone

Whether going for a polished, honed, or leathered finish, choosing the proper sealer and maintaining the sealing process is probably the most important thing clients need to consider when using natural stone in their spaces, according to Coleman.

“Some softer stones such as marble are more prone to possibly show wear over time, although I have a few past clients who have all-Carrara marble bathrooms that still look pristine after many years,” she says.

One trend she’s noticing is that clients seem to want as thin a grout line as possible. Selecting a stone with a straight edge versus a slight bevel is best to achieve this. She reminds clients that stone is a natural material so there needs be some tolerance. What some clients may view as imperfections in natural stone, Coleman calls “character.” “Nature is perfectly imperfect,” she reminds clients.

Fresh and New Natural Stone Finish Trends

Coleman finds that most clients still think a polished finish is their only option. It’s often their designers, who are well-versed in what’s happening in their industry and what’s available, who turn them on to other options or educate them on what they may actually be looking at when they present inspirational images.

Premium Absolute Black granite with natural finish. Photo courtesy of Kat Coleman, Topkat Design Group.

She admits polished countertops are the norm in the United States, but matte-type surfaces seem to be having a moment in the natural stone space right now. “I have the occasional client mention a desire for a honed (or leathered/suede) countertop but usually it’s me, as the designer, making the recommendation in the design,” she says.

Manufacturers are constantly creating new options in finishes, which is exciting for Coleman and her clients. She’s recently learned of a brushed countertop surface finish. “This surface has a matte look with a brushed texture,” she explains. While she’s not yet had the chance to install this finish in one of her projects, she admits she’s intrigued and looking forward to doing more research to learn the pros and cons of using it in one of her designs.

A finish she does love to use for kitchen countertops is honed. Honed is the original matte-type surface. In bathrooms, she enjoys mixing honed and polished stone. For example, she’s combined honed floors and niches in a shower with polished stone walls.

Leathered finish on stone has been around for some time and Coleman says it has a sexy but classic look and feel that men seem to like.

Updating Natural Stone Countertops

For those who want to refresh or update spaces like a kitchen and keep their existing cabinetry, one option is having them restored to a different finish. “A perfect example would be if you had the popular polished black granite countertops that were all the rage around the early 2000s,” says Coleman. “You can have a fabricator put a honed finish on these, replace the backsplash, and you would have a completely different and more current look!”

Choosing Natural Stone for Its Beauty, Strength, and Longevity

There are many reasons why clients choose natural stone for their projects and there is something to be said about the beauty of the real material versus something that looks like stone. Coleman knew her client from 10 years ago wanted marble and while she could have settled for a non-marble look-alike, the reality is she wouldn’t have been happy. Instead, advising her client on how to care for her marble means her client was able to include the stone she wanted in her bathroom and is still happy a decade later. Nothing beats the real thing.

Polished White Macaubus quartzite. Photo courtesy of Kat Coleman, Topkat Design Group.

While marble remains a favorite among her clients, Coleman has been installing more quartzite lately. She appreciates that quartzite is harder than granite and can sometimes even be non-porous, although she highly recommends testing the porosity level if that feature is important to a client. White quartzites have the look of marble with the durability of granite, she says, which makes them attractive to clients.

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An earlier version of this article appeared in the Spring 2020 issue of Building Stone Magazine.

With its unprecedented size and beauty, the mosque in the city of Shali in the Chechen Republic of Russia has an awe-inspiring presence. It is considered to be one of the largest mosques in Europe, with a capacity for approximately 20,000 worshippers. The massive structure features Thassos White marble throughout its exterior and interior design, which exhibits shimmering effects and purity—further contributing to its stunning appearance.

“The mosque is reflecting the aesthetic of the Uzbek architecture and rhythm, which is very popular and has been used not only in mosques, but also in governmental buildings,” said the team at FHL Kiriakidis Group in Drama, Greece, the stone producer, fabricator, and installer for the project. “It has clear lines and elements which are perfectly suitable to be combined with a fresh approach and contemporary forms. The architect, who was chosen by the contractor, is an Uzbek himself, with a lot of experience in the field.”

FHL Kiriakidis is accustomed to working on projects of this magnitude, which is why they were chosen for this job. “For us, who were appointed to realize the design in white marble and to install everything, the project appeared big, but at the same time, we are already very experienced in structures of this size,” said the company. “We had the wonderful opportunity to have provided all of the white marble cladding for the Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi (Shaik Zayed Bin Sultan Mosque), as well as many governmental buildings in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, such as the Conference Hall (Palace of International Forums), the National Parliament, and the National Library. So the delicate handling in production, shipping, and application of massive marble pieces was not new to us, which for sure was one of the criteria to choose our company for this job.”

A Striking Design

The architect was drawn to Thassos White marble for its color and popularity. “It has a unique sparkling whiteness,” said the FHL Kiriakidis team. “Under the sunlight, it seems almost that it is made of myriad diamond-like crystals. Thassos marble is still a very popular building material today, providing sheer luxury wherever it is placed. The color white is furthermore a highly symbolic color and synonymous with virtues like purity, new beginnings, and honesty.”

The company explains that marble is an “eternal building material, a fact that is proven through the history of mankind. Greece, especially, has one of the oldest cultures and plenty of heritage with monumental buildings made out of white marble, and particularly Thassos marble, so naturally we consider that sustainability of natural stone played a massive role during the decision process.”

The Shali mosque is designed in a traditional Uzbek rhythm design, with many spindles and columns. The pure white architecture is accented with vibrant pops of color and decorative elements. A palette of natural stones were incorporated into the inlay designs, including Blue Bahia, Baltic Brown, Mary Gold, and Tunas Green granite; Indian Green, Giallo Reale, and Rosso Alicante marble, and K21 onyx.

The team at FHL Kiriakidis explained that Uzbek architecture flourished during the Middle Ages as a result of being a central link in the 11,000-kilometer-long Silk Road. “Colorful mosaics, religious symbols, and abstract geometrical patterns characterize it. The colorful inlays we created from colored marble and granite emphasize very beautifully the all-over whiteness of the entire mosque—giving a playful counterpart to it.”

Producing the Marble

Thassos White marble is quarried on a small island in northern Greece. “FHL Kiriakidis owns quarries there and has a deep knowledge of this marble and so the procurement of suitable marble blocks was in our hand,” said the company. “The rarity of pure white Thassos marble blocks was of course a very difficult job to accomplish, but that was also one of the criteria for gaining this project. We had an appointed team dedicated only to inspect our quarries and ensuring with daily/weekly visits that the raw material was given and the machinery was procured with suitable marble to ensure the workflow.”

In total, FHL Kiriakidis processed approximately 36,000 tons of Thassos White marble, including many elaborate artifacts. “The marble pieces were very large and heavy,” they shared. “Every marble piece was produced in our factory in Drama, Greece. It had to be dry laid, inspected, packed properly in containers, transported by road to the port of Thessaloniki, Greece, and shipped via vessels and trucks to the final destination in Shali town in the Chechen Republic.”

Once the marble pieces were fabricated, a dry lay and codification had to be done, as well as a very detailed reporting of everything that was produced, approved/declined, and shipped for installation. “As the marble pieces were shipped by areas, a detailed plan of placing every single piece had to be elaborated by our installation company and our design team here in Greece,” they explained. “Many difficulties came up during the process of initial design, real elaboration and final installation on spot. Minor adaptions had to be made in respect to workability. All teams had to communicate closely and to meet for this.”

While the rareness of the marble and the complexity of the fabrication and installation made this a challenging project, the team at FHL Kiriakidis was “confident about our capability and our way of dealing with difficulties, which is always involved while working with natural stone—especially white marble. Nature gives only unique products and this is what we have to understand, respect, espouse, and love when we want to work with marble.”

An Orchestrated Installation

Precise organization, planning, and a lot of evaluation work in terms of the raw material and working time that would be needed were a necessity in the job. This all had to be done by the design team prior to the project’s start to ensure that the project stayed on budget and within the time frame. The install crew consisted of 250 workers. Fabrication of all the marble pieces, as well as onsite installation, took three years to complete.

The marble cladding, which had a thickness of 3cm and upwards, was secured with a dry fixing method that included special profiles and anchors. The most difficult part was the cyclic parapets, which one can see in the minarets and the dome. They were very delicate in production, transport, and installation.

“Our group’s subcontractor took over the entire installation job, as we have worked on a lot of projects together,” said FHL Kiriakidis. “We had to work in complete unison together, with a lot of onsite visits from our Greek design team.”

Work on the Shali mosque began in 2016 and the project was completed in July 2019. “We got a lot of positive feedback and feel extremely honored to have won a 2019 Pinnacle Award of Excellence in the category Architectural Carving/Lettering/Sculpture [from the Natural Stone Institute] for this beautiful project,” said FHL Kiriakidis. “It was successful due to many factors that played their role during all phases of the project—from acquisition to installation. Surely, the massive experience from our side and our installation company’s side, to projects of this size and the way they had to be handled in every stage, the capacity in raw material in procurement and state-of-the-art machinery for the fabrication, as well as the specialized workforce here in Greece and onsite, were a trigger to its success.”

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