The Romance of Stone Walls

What is it about stone wall? I don’t know if it was fictitious Rosehill Cottage in The Holiday that started a revived love of these natural beauties, but they certainly are gorgeous and quite popular.

The English cottage, Rosehill, was built on site for the movie and the sets were shot in a studio. It was torn down after filming. How warm and cozy are these thick (looking) walls and low slung beamed ceilings?

This is fun, though I always thought a little chilly looking for a bath tub!

One of my most popular blog posts has been a real English stone building – The Bastle. Stone walls galore inside and out!

I love this combination of stone walls and warm wood floor in the image below from Anne Evans, Architect.

Brooke and Steve Giannetti’s Patina Farm dining area features a plaster/stone wall – the epitome of romance and old-world glamour.

I wish there was more of the room showing in this bathroom – but it looks like a glamorous bathroom added to the garret of an old building somewhere in Europe.

I’m not sure, this might be an outdoor space, but I do like the white washed stone wall and textural furniture, pillows and rug.

Stone walls work well in more modern spaces as well such as this beautiful kitchen by Marie Laure Helmkampf Design. The building was an old stone mill but the modern kitchen keeps it fresh and clean.

This space below looks like James Bond just walked out of frame doesn’t it?

Can’t you just imagine a romantic wedding dinner in the dining room of the Masseria Le Carrube in Puglia?

A couple of years ago I designed a basement space for local clients looking to turn their “builder’s special” basement into an English pub feeling entertainment space. The intention was to add stone veneer to one of the outside walls of the basement. Unfortunately, what with one thing and another (coughglobalpandemicough) the build-out never happened.

Of course, we can’t always find or build the perfect stone building and full size stones are heavy and not the right choice for most interior applications. Stone veneers are real stone, but thinly sliced – 3/4″ to 1.5″ thick –  and applied to the wall by a stone mason so that they look like the real thing.

Veneers are available online, such as this below by Quarry Mills, but usually they can be purchased at a local stone center.

Here’s some great info from the folks at This Old House.

If real stone isn’t in your budget or possibly you’re in a rental and you cannot do this level of construction, there are interesting stone wall murals available such as this from Ever Wallpaper.

Have you installed a stone wall in your home? I’d love to hear about your experience!