Roundup: Interior and Exterior Stone Walls

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Stone walls are one of the oldest forms of architecture, and they remain a great building material for homes and gardens. Unlike wood, stone doesn't rot or need replacing, and it comes in a range of beautiful colors from warm red to cool gray. If you're considering a stacked stone wall in your garden or you just want to look, click through our roundup of inspiring stone spaces...

FIRST ROW
• Ravel by Patricia Urquiola for B&B Italia
• Photo by Flickr member Boby Dimitrov licensed via Creative Commons
• Brione House in Switzerland
• Stone Hall at Allyu Spa in Chicago
• Aran Islands, Ireland by Flickr member Mark Heard licensed via Creative Commons

SECOND ROW
• Barn Conversion from Architect Your Home
• Finca son Gener from InSpace
• Stone Wall via Wikipedia Commons
• Stone Wall in England by Flickr member PhillC licensed via Creative Commons
• Mallorca House from Light Locations

Comments (12)

Just beware that some types of stone don't weather as well as others and can crumble and chip away.

I love stone, but picking the right color for the mortar is essential. Yes, the walls in the first photo are incredible.

A lot of the lofts in my neighborhood have original 18th and 19th century stone walls, and they're stunning. I covet them.

if it's wrong to fall in love with a wall....then i don't wanna be right. that first wall is gorge.

I love the look of stone (interior and exterior). Growing up, I shared a bedroom with my brother for awhile and then eventually moved into my own bedroom that had a stone wall. I remember feeling very grown up when I moved into that room "with the stone wall."

My dad (stone expert/mason) had built a chimney on our first house out of volcanic rock which was really cool and unique.

In my condo, I had thought about incorporating some dry stack stone into a feature wall. I think I've got my stone fix with my pebble tiles in the bathroom. These tiles are a pretty straightforward way of getting some stone in your place. They would even make a cool looking backsplash.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/art_chel/2907038745/in/set-72157604038576650/

There is a brand new product on the market that is a flexible stone. It is a very thin veneer of stone on a special mat that can be seamlessly wrapped around columns, etc.

I love stone. I've made several low dry stacked walls of local fieldstone and have also used it for garden paths. I've gotten it delivered ($$$ due to the enormous weight) and have collected it by hand from pastureland (which left me dirtier, sweatier, and more tired than I've ever been in my life). It's all been very satisfying work, though.

My future projects include facing a chimney breast with dry-stacked cultured stone (some of which is nice, and it's way cheaper than real stone and much easier to install), and making a small patio of bluestone slabs. If my joints hold up long enough, that is.

If you like stone walls, check out Dan Snow's work: http://www.inthecompanyofstone.blogspot.com/
Andy Goldsworthy has also done some really beautiful things working with traditional stonemasons.

I did a dry-stacked stone wall for a goldfish pond in the backyard of our Philly rowhouse, 3 feet & 4 feet long. Took 1500 lbs. of PA bluestone, carried in thru our front door. Couldn't stand up straight the next day....

I love stone walls. There are some that are ugly, mainly because of weird unnatural color combinations, but the majority are beautiful. Eventually I hope to add stone veneer to the concrete exposed foundation of my house... I think for indoor stone to work, it needs to be fairly subtle -- mainly texture and minimal color variation.

heh.

my whole house is stone. (on the outside anyways.)

:)

Fieldstone houses are pretty common in my area. They have the stacked stone fences surrounding the properties. It's always been my dream to own a house like that. Some are very old....around the 18th century. I love the quaint and folky warmth they have.