The Stone

Jose' Ramirez is our stone mason who has years of experience and a crew of jolly Mexicans. Today they were working on the west side of the house with their native music blasting and singing and swaying as they lay each piece of stone. Most do not speak English but smile with a twinkle in their eyes when you say "Gracias". Their clothes are soiled from the mortar and they have little to eat in their lunch boxes but they are as happy as can be! There is much to learn from these giving men. So many thoughts come to my mind when I peer into their sparkling eyes: something about freedom to work, pride in their work, humble attitudes, joyfilled hearts and their spirit of sacrifice for their families.

Jose' works his crews on some of the most beautiful homes in Texas. His crew are artisans who work long hours in the heat, cold and wind. They are building the container, the vessel of love by which everything else fits. I watch each of them work as they study each stone, chip it into the size and shape they want to use, turn it to get just the right color , stand back and see how this stone will look next to the one they just placed and continue to play in the rocks. God blessed their hands and their creative hearts.

This type of stone, the color, the lay, color of mortar and type of stone lay all contribute to the style of stone I wanted for this home. We spent hours driving around old Fredericksburg looking at the original structures to get ideas for this type of stone. I wanted a color that had more texture with greys, beige, brown, rust and white. I didn't want it to be dark as the stone used at Boot Ranch and also because we were using tobacco colored old wood as a contrast. With this in mind, Jose' created many sample boards for me to look at with various stone sizes, different mortar color and even the way the mortar is smeared between the stone makes a difference in its appearance. This lay is called "rumble" and is considered the old lay used by the pioneers. They found whatever stone was available on their property and "threw it up" quickly so they would have a place for their families to live. There is an art to the way it is laid and these men got it perfectly beautiful.