Natural stone cladding and surfaces can add striking beauty and value to any home, inside or out. And there’s no dearth of choice when it comes to the cut, color and shape of natural stone and natural stone veneers. Rest assured that there’s a stone profile out there to perfectly suit whatever design effect you’re after. Architectural accent, feature wall, fireplace cladding, kitchen backsplash, front door surround, landscape features – all of these and so much more can be brilliantly achieved with a careful selection and application of natural stone.
Quarried directly from the earth, these products include humble stones such as granite, slate, limestone and sandstone, as well as more precious materials such as marble, travertine, quartzite and onyx. Variants such as price point and durability can help you decide what to use where. Those on a budget should remember that a little of this beautiful material can go a long way. Confident designers with deeper pockets can use it with more abandon for pure drama.
When sourcing natural stone, consider the following profile options, as each will best suit a specific architectural style:
Ledge Stone Cladding
Natural ledge stone cladding on a traditional home design
Also known as stacked stone, ledge stone is distinctively horizontal. Created from rectangular or square shaped natural stone pieces, ledge stone can be installed on a variety of interior and exterior surfaces. Textures and colors can be blended to create unique and naturally dynamic patterns. The ledgestone profile is compatible with Craftsman or Modern architectural styles. The effect can be rustic, as when ledgestone is used to create a floor to ceiling fireplace surround. But it is also a sophisticated and refined expression of Modernism when used in a uniform color to clad an outdoor façade. It could also be effectively applied to create a feature on any traditional timber-framed or Cape Cod-designed home.
Field Stone Cladding
Tofino Sky Field Stone on a traditional timber frame exterior
Fieldstone is the name given to surfaces constructed from irregularly shaped stones harvested from topsoil or subsoil (hence the fields). It is intrinsic to vernacular architectural style in regions where it naturally occurs – Tuscany, the south of France, the Canadian Shield area and some parts of the northern US. Not surprisingly it can be used most effectively on exterior facades to suggest these regions, for a Tuscan style home, for example, or in traditional rustic timber-frame designs. Inside, fieldstone can make a striking accent wall in a shower room or fireplace surround, suggesting an aged stone cottage aesthetic.
Ashlar Stone Cladding
Pacific Ashlar stone on a linear modern exterior with Ocean Pearl cut capping
Ashlar refers to cut stone that has been dressed to create a very distinctive linear and aged appearance. It is most recognizably represented in North America by the architectural style of
Frank Lloyd Wright. The modern master used it on the exterior facades of several iconic private commissions as he developed what came to be known as the
Prairie Style. Although derived from textured natural materials such as limestone, the ashlar profile has a more refined appearance due to the masonry skills required to work it. Ashlar can be manipulated to create uniform or random patterns, sometimes with very minimal joinery, depending on the effect desired.
Choosing natural stone for exterior or interior treatments does require a little extra research and planning. A K2 Stone sales representative can guide you through the process of finding the perfect stone colors and textures for your home. But ask anyone who has gone through the process – they’ll be certain to tell you that the stunning and unique end results have been entirely worth the effort.
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