For true masonry is not held together by cement but by gravity. That is to say, by the warp of the world. By the stuff of creation itself.
Cormac McCarthy. The Stonemason.
What is a Dry Stone Wall?
Dry Stone construction is an iconic and ancient building craft found nearly everywhere in the world. Only one material is employed; stone, carefully placed and relying only on gravity, friction, and ancient craft for stability. Unlike mortared walls (wet walls), dry stone walls are inherently self-draining and flexible, thereby being less susceptible to ground-heave, subsidence, or thermal movement. Aesthetically pleasing, they enhance the beauty of the landscape.
Dry stone walls provide secure habitat for a varied range of flora and fauna, have a low-carbon footprint, and are completely and infinitely recyclable. Dry stone structures are always made in harmony with the environment and the technique exemplifies a harmonious relationship between human beings and nature.
Services
Freestanding Wall
The standard stone wall with two finished sides which can reinforce a property line, provide a landscape edge, or even provide enclosure for livestock.
Retaining Wall
A stone wall with one finished side and a second more rugged face that retains soil and allows for terracing of the landscape.
Restoration
Selective repair of existing stone walls to improve their appearance and extend their useful life.
Flat Construction
Paths/walkways, steps, and terraces.
Features
Dry stone construction that includes a variety of functions including fire-pits, posts, cairns, and even perhaps a platform for star-gazing.
. . . my fingers/had the art/To make stone love stone, . . .
Robinson Jeffers: Tor House.
Stonework
Opus 11, “Terry”
The aesthetic charm that comes with dry stone walls essentially correlates to the fact that they represent the result of creative work and not a chaotic pile of natural resources.
Thomas Kesselring. Reflections on Sustainability.
Ecological Benefits
Dry stone walls offer a wide range of ecological benefits including ‘green’ construction, sustainability, and the provision of a secure, biodiverse habitat for a varied range of flora and fauna. The walls present a low-carbon footprint, and are completely and infinitely recyclable. Dry stone structures are always made with local stone in harmony with the environment, and time-tested building techniques exemplify and reinforce a harmonious relationship between human endeavor and nature.
Dry stone walls are the greenest way to build, in that they do not employ mortar or concrete, the manufacture of which is the third largest producer of CO2 in the world. Nor do they require concrete foundations or block back-up walls as do ‘wet’ walls. Stone is the only material employed and is harvested from the site or as near to the site as possible. Standard tools are simple, require no power, and fit comfortably in a small bag or bucket. The only water required for construction is to keep the Waller hydrated!
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Stone walls change everything from the soil level to the top of the wall. Wall orientation influences shade, sunlight, and wind, thereby creating implications for moisture, temperature, and shelter. Rain quickly drains off dry stone walls and, in general, south and west facing walls are hot and dry while east and north facing walls are cooler and wetter. The base of the wall is generally cool and moist while the top is hot and dry. South facing walls absorb heat through solar-gain during the day and radiate stored heat through the night. A south-facing wall provides dry, warm, sunny positions for warmth-loving insects and basking and hibernating reptiles. All of these factors influence where flora and fauna will choose to locate.
A well constructed dry stone wall is, depending on the skill of the Waller (and the variety of stone) between 5% to 20% air between stones. Yet the gaps and crevices, left in stone walls by omitting mortar or synthetic sealants, create natural interstices for plants to grow and animals to shelter in. The wall becomes a linear ecological nature preserve contributing greatly to local ecosystems, microclimates and biodiversity.
To insure the longevity of a wall, it is not a good practice for plants (and their ever insistent root systems) to be allowed to grow on or in the wall. However, on a smaller scale, a recent study revealed that stone walls support up to 75 different vascular plants, more than 50 bryophites, and over 20 lichens, mosses, and liverworts.
Animals of all types utilize stone walls; from foxes to chipmunks to salamanders to mice, ants, spiders, snakes, beetles and rodents. Larger creatures, such as toads, frogs, lizards and adders use walls as winter homes as well as hunting grounds. Cats and foxes use the tops of the walls as traveling lanes and useful vantage points, where the extra elevation helps them spot prey or predators. So, while it is a wall, it is also a corridor.
Dry stone walls can also benefit solitary and social bees. The walls provide cavities for bees to nest in, but they also create permanent, undisturbed habitat for perennial herbs to grow alongside them, indirectly providing diverse floral resources for bees to forage on.
A dry stone wall can make your landscape come to life as the wall becomes an edge, a refuge, and a habitat, with impeccable, eco-friendly credentials.
Never tell me that not one star of all
That slip from heaven at night and softly fall
Has been picked up with stones to build a wall.
Robert Frost. A Star in a Stone-Boat.
About
I was introduced to stone walling through the weekend activities of my father, an engineer, who did weekend stone work as ‘therapy.’ My job was to move the stone from the truck to wherever he was currently working. This was hot, heavy, dirty work which thrilled me not even a little. From my pile of rocks, he would work on his latest wall project as time was available. Not golf, not hunting, not biking or birdwatching, but wall building. For the record, I thought he was nuts at the time . . . yet, here I am.
Stark Weather Stone is my commitment to the time-honored craft of dry stone walling, employing proven techniques tested over several thousand years. My experiences as a professional musician and a registered architect inform all the stone work that I do. Gravity, friction, craft, and beauty walk hand in hand.
Interested in baseball, architecture, literature and music growing up, my undergraduate degree was in Music Performance with a minor in American Literature. I was fortunate to spend a few years as a Principal Horn player in three orchestras, building satisfying performances. Yet, this performance construction was very ephemeral . . . ‘You should have heard us last Friday; we were incredible!’
Seeking more permanent ‘performances,’ I attended the University of Pennsylvania, earning a Master of Architecture degree and subsequent professional registration. For several years I was a Director of Design for firms specializing in facilities for Colleges and Universities and worked on projects in 15 states. In addition, we provided design services for several K-12 International schools located in 21 countries and five continents. Buildings are permanent, but there are an awful lot of people involved in the course of a project.
The Stark Weather Stone
When I was young, my father and I spent a week together every summer at a Minnesota lake cabin. Coming from the parched plains of North Dakota, Minnesota seemed exotic: trees, lakes, streams, and hills! The direct drive was about five hours, but we always added considerably more time by stopping to check on work in progress (my father owned an engineering company) or to visit a site where there was a potential bid for work.
The trip to the lake was a direct line to the southwest, but one year we began by driving east and then north, arriving in a tiny, remote, prairie settlement known as Starkweather. It was a miserably hot, windy (noisy), dusty day and that dust inevitably found its way into your nose, mouth and eyes. I did not see another soul the entire time we were there. My ten-year-old mind was enjoying playing with the name of this stark hamlet . . . Stark Weather indeed. And if the weather is this stark in July, just imagine how stark it must be in February.
Following my father back to our car, I noticed a particularly singular stone in some tall grass. It was nearly round, about the size of a softball, and nearly white. I picked it up, quietly placed it under my seat, and we proceeded to the lake . . . finally!
My father did stone work on the weekends and friends had developed a habit of anonymously giving him wrapped stones as gifts. For the following Christmas, I wrapped my stone and placed it under our tree. He never did know that the stone was from me, and it finally was placed in a prominent position on a fireplace wall. An anonymous gift that would, to me, always be the Stark Weather Stone.
I see him standing there over his plumb bob which never lies and never lies and the plumb bob is pointing motionless to the unimaginable center of the earth four thousand miles beneath his feet. Pointing to a blackness unknown and unknowable both in truth and principle where God and matter are locked in a collaboration that is silent nowhere in the universe and it is this that guides him as he places his stone one over two and two over one as his fathers before him and his sons to follow and let the rain carve them if it can.
Cormac McCarthy. The Stonemason.