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Carved Stone Creations - Stone Design Portfolio
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Slide 2: Carved Stone Creations | 1
“Stone is our passion”
Inside and out, set your project apart with the timeless elegance, beauty and sophistication of natural stone. Specializing in custom architectural stone and bronze, we pride ourselves in creating the most unique and extraordinary luxury home embellishments found anywhere.
As your global stone source from design through completion, we’ll work with you every step along the way to ensure you only get the highest quality custom stonework for your home. Our talented team of designers will craft your vision utilizing a full suite of advanced design software. The approved model is then hand-sculpted by some of the world’s best stone carvers, working with your choice of exquisite natural stones from around the world. Nothing creates a more dramatic presence than the look of natural stone defining your home or Business.
For more information contact our design center:
Carved Stone Creations, Inc.
2101 Progress Way, Kaukauna, WI 54130 866-759-1920 info@CarvedStoneCreations.com
www.CarvedStoneCreations.com
STONE DESIGN PORTFOLIO, VOL. I
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The owners of Carved Stone Creations gather inspiration from around the world to create many of the pieces in the showroom. The international collection of stone colors and designs available to you allow for virtually limitless possibilities.
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Like a visit to the Colosseum of ancient Rome, the great room of this residence boasts a travertine colonnade. In addition, a pair of fourteen-foot Corinthian columns flanks the magnificent two- story fireplace.
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The attention to detail we provide on your project is unsurpassed. An exquisite stone fountain is sure to add beauty and enjoyment to your surroundings. At Carved Stone Creations, we will guide you through each step of the design process by creating either a classical reproduction or custom design.
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Carved Stone Creations was involved as soon as preliminary renderings were completed on this Tuscan estate. The plan required dozens of structural solid granite columns and a twenty- five ton carved marble staircase. This required early involvement, as collaboration with the architect and structural engineers was critical.
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This residential exterior illustrates several examples of granite cladding, balustrades, and columns available to enhance your home. Notice the custom curved panels in both honed and rock-face finishes. The granite veneer is available as thin as ¾”.
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Each of the thirty-three meticulously hand-carved panels on this marble staircase feature designs modeled after the owner’s own history and interests. The sheer scale of this gorgeous staircase is awe-inspiring.
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Carved Stone Creations can provide for all your natural stone needs. This great room features a carved staircase, flooring, fireplace among other architectural details.
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Decorative stone range hoods are an easy way to redefine the kitchen and can be complemented with stone corbels, columns, or even a fireplace.
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The Isis Gold limestone accents shown here are an example of combining stone and wood into a luxurious unique design.
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Our limitless selection of natural stone sinks is sure to embellish any kitchen, bathroom, or remodel project. The fiery marble featured gives the warm glow of a vibrant sunset.
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Created with your personal style in mind, our designers will impress you with our custom, hand carved natural stone tubs. For a lasting warm soak, heating elements can be installed to preheat your stone bath.
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A water jet cut medallion will provide your floor or tabletop with a design made with unsurpassed intricacy and precision. Available in an array of colors and customized to your exact requirements.
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A Golden Orient travertine stone staircase graces this home with its elegance and splendor as it winds downstairs.
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The rich and varied color of this stone staircase, with bowed travertine treads and risers, are a perfect complement to the thin stone veneer wrapping the walls. Combining Old World warmth with contemporary design, interlocking Serengeti Gold quartzite can be installed vertically around a curved wall.
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A natural stone fireplace will add warmth and depth to any room, and will not go unnoticed. Let your home convey an old world charm with a handcrafted stone fireplace surround.
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Travertine is the most popular stone type for interior uses, especially in fireplaces, columns, and flooring. The intricately carved details and family crest make this fireplace a family heirloom.
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Adorn your game room or study with the ennobling influence of classical statuary or a finely detailed renaissance-themed fireplace.
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Your personalized one-of-a-kind fireplace from Carved Stone Creations is designed with impeccable detail to minimize, if not completely eliminate unsightly seams. Full-length hearths and mantels, hidden seams in shadow lines, and mitered corners are just a few of the qualities you will find in your stone fireplace.
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Carved granite architectural accents will add interest to your home, and can be full-faced or veneer to meet your specifications.
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Natural stone pavers have been popular since the dawn of civilization. Carved Stone Creations brings you unique sizes to emulate any design including our own Palatial Versailles pattern with sizes up to two foot by three foot.
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This unique raised patio features a twenty-eight foot diameter gazebo with a stainless steel decorative dome. Oversized blocks were quarried especially for the nearly eleven foot long granite beams to span across each of the eight Corinthian columns.
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Adding a focal point to your garden or landscape will truly make an elegant statement by providing both a functional and aesthetic purpose. This can be achieved not only with gazebos, but with statuary, birdbaths, and other custom designs.
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At Carved Stone Creations, we truly embrace the beauty and culture of Asian inspired pieces, as most of the artisans who hand carve our pieces have passed down this talent for thousands of years.
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From abstract art or classical statuary to life-size zoo animals, we will create any form of handcrafted statuary you desire. From a conceptual sketch or photo, we will create your unique masterpiece.
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Appreciate your granite fountain year round, exposed to even the coldest climates. Your fountain will maintain its functionality and timeless grandeur for generations to enjoy.
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Granite is typically the preferred stone choice for outdoor fountains and landscaping décor, mainly due to its minimal maintenance and unmatched durability.
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Wall fountains transcend ordinary design to make an elegant statement. Classical and contemporary designs in both residential and commercial projects create a tranquil and serene environment for all to enjoy.
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At Carved Stone Creations, we collaborate with designers and architects to provide custom commercial stonework in addition to our residential designs. Projects include interior and exterior stone cladding, wall fountains, flooring, and hotel bathroom vanities.
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Welcome to our stone studio and design center where you will experience our diverse offerings even before you step foot into our world-class showroom. Besides being all natural stone, each of these photos have one thing in common; they are all on the same building.
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Our design process of this grand marble staircase Each detailed panel drawing, in addition to the began with preliminary hand sketches. From four unique newel posts, required a full-scale clay this concept, our designers developed a three- model for approval prior to carving any actual dimensional model of the entire structure. stone.
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This special commission reproduction began with Special planning was required prior to photographing both the original piece and estate construction to coordinate the integrated site. A preliminary computer model was created to lighting and plumbing with the crushing weight determine the correct scale. Once approved, our of this fountain. More than eighty tons of designers created detailed shop drawings of every hand-carved granite was used to construct this piece ensuring a precision fit during installation. magnificent fountain.
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Since its inception, Carved Stone Creations Inc. has been committed to offering a unique service to its clients by integrating personalized designs with hand-sculpted stone and bronze products from around the world. The company uses extensive research and development; coupled with three- dimensional computer visualization software to create the most luxurious home embellishments found anywhere. It is our belief that by continuing to bring such an innovative service, that our corporation will achieve continued growth and expansion.
Carved Stone Creations, Inc. - an innovative design firm and direct importer of natural stone products from around the world – will be showcasing genuine architectural stone products at the International Builders’ Show at Las Vegas in January 2009.
The massive stone display created by Carved Stone Creations for the show features a stone exterior façade flanked by a photo gallery and Roman-style bath. The façade includes stately custom-carved granite door and window surrounds matched with a thin veneer stone cladding.
A granite exterior will outlast generations and is a premier choice among the most magnificent estates around the world – especially in colder climates. With new lightweight thin veneers, natural stone exteriors are becoming increasingly popular choices for new home construction and are also an ideal choice for remodel projects.
As you are drawn to the display, your eyes fix upon the luxurious hand-carved marble soaking tub framed by a pair of solid travertine columns and archway. The flooring is all natural stone tile including Carved Stone Creations’ own exclusive Palatial Versailles travertine flooring with sizes up to 24” x 36”.
The opposite face of the island display features an intricate relief-carved marble balustrade and elegant hand-carved stone fireplace surround. A large HDTV looping an inspiring slideshow set to music crowns the fireplace.
For more information on the range of available products - including bronze fountains and statuary, visit the company’s website at www.CarvedStoneCreations.com or stop by booth N1435 to pick up a DVD-ROM filled with high-resolution photos.
Luxury Living: Area experts offer tips on how to create the perfect fireplace.
Written By: Lisa Strandberg
Elemental and wild, fire attracts us with its warmth, glow and power. It’s no wonder so many of us want a little piece of it in our homes.
“Want” is the operative word when modern-day homeowners choose a fireplace type and surround style, according to Steve Boegh, owner of Fox Valley Stone and Brick Company, which has showrooms in Neenah and DePere.
“People don’t talk about affordability, they talk about want.” He says, adding that a typical customer’s perspective is, “This is one time around for me. This is my dream home.”
To ensure a homeowner will love the reality of a fireplace as much as his or her dream of it, Boegh advises to shop early. “It’s not just for Christmas anymore,” he says.
Homeowners should determine precisely what they want in a fireplace prior to the design process. The reason? As passionate as a homeowner may become about including a fireplace in a new or existing home, practical considerations come into play, including the ability of a structure to support the weight of a fireplace and its decorative elements.
“The builder needs to know from the homeowner up front if they’re going to add a stone fireplace surround,” says Wess Ripley, vice president of Carved Stone Creations in Kaukauna, which sells custom-carved products made of natural stone. “All stone is going to be heavy.”
A clever remodeling contractor can work around weighty issues like these when adding a fireplace to an existing home, especially if the addition is made above a vacant space in the basement where supportive structures can be installed. Alternatively, says Ripley, “We’ve designed fireplaces that look massive but are basically built out with studs and sheet rock, and we clad it with slabs to give it the illusion of a big fireplace.”
The necessary venting also factors into locating a fireplace. Running a chimney through, say, the middle of the master bedroom wouldn’t appeal to most homeowners.
Lifestyle matters, too, in selecting the core of the fireplace – a wood-, gas- or pellet-burning firebox. “When people come to us, we ask them some leading questions, “Boegh says, listing several- “How do you live? Are you just home on the weekends? Do you want your fireplace to be aesthetic, or do you want it to be functional?”
With fireplaces that burn wood or pellets, replenishing the fuel requires more time and effort than some homeowners can spare. For others, nothing but the crackle of a wood fire will do. For those often away from home, the convenience of a thermostat-controlled, gas-burning fireplace that will keep a home heated and prevent plumbing from freezing during a power outage trumps all.
With the size, shape and function of a fireplace determined, homeowners shift their attention to its appearance. Often, that process begins with selection of firebox design elements.
“People demand everything from pewter to copper,” says Boegh of the hardware enclosing the firebox. Interiors available for any type of fireplace range from metal to brick to natural stone, depending on customer preference.
But the place where most homeowners focus their decision-making energy is the same place they will later focus their eyes – on the fireplace surround. With the façade, “the only limit is your imagination,” says Ryan Schleihs, owner of Cast Stone Studios in Greenville. The company custom-molds fireplace surrounds and other products from concrete.
“You can inlay different types of metal or glass. It’s a really versatile product that you can customize to your home,” Schleihs says.
So, too, is stone, with which Ripley says homeowners can do “absolutely anything,” assuming they’ve planned ahead with their architects and builders.
“A lot of times, it helps if they just bring in a picture from a magazine,” Ripley says. That image can help narrow options like whether the hearth should be elevated or flush with floor and takes a homeowner a long way toward selecting a material.
Travertine, marble, granite and limestone have proven popular with stone-loving homeowners in recent years. Each has its own character, which an appropriate design will enhance.
As the stone used to create Rome’s Coliseum, for example, travertine lends a timeless, Old World look to a surround. Its naturally pitted texture works best with simple lines rather than highly detailed designs. Marble, on the other hand, has a fine grain that artisans can sculpt into virtually any shape without loss of detail.
Again, a homeowner’s wants – and his or her bank account – determine what’s possible in terms of a fireplace surround, which can span anywhere from a yard or two to 20 feet or more.
Ripley says his company’s projects range in cost from about $4,000 to upwards of $40,000, depending on material, design and shipping requirements.
“We could have a fireplace carved in China where the stone is quarried in Brazil,” he says.
The prices of Schleihs’ designs also vary according to complexity. An array of thin concrete panels with limited detail might cost several hundred dollars, while a tall surround with columns and curves requiring a custom mold could run $10,000 or more.
Homeowners also have the option of brick or stone surrounds, which have become more customized in recent years.
“The biggest trend that I have seen is more complicated looks in mixing of materials and definitely more stone as opposed to brick,” Boegh says.
Integrating space for a television in the fireplace surround also represents a growing trend. “A lot of people are doing it because the fireplace it the focal point, and what’s the point of putting a fireplace in the room and turning your back to it to watch TV?” Boegh says.
Whatever you want – to watch the fire and your favorite show at the same time, to bring flames to life with the flip of a switch or to gaze upon something ultra-modern (or utterly ageless) – a fireplace can offer exactly that.
Building Stone Magazine, Fall 2007 – A Publication of Building Stone Institute
Written By: Stephanie Aurora Lewis
Gardens, parks, town centers and plazas are important to a city’s infrastructure. They create an environment that is suitable – and often even inspirational – for social interaction. The imagery of natural stone and its ability to endure in outdoor conditions for hundreds of years makes it an ideal material for these place-making features such as monuments, fountains, benches and sculptures. The stone carvers who create these sculpted pieces exhibit true handicraft as defined by William Morris during the Arts and Crafts Movement in England at the end of the 19th century.
Outdoor Sculpture
In Chicago, the Millennium Monument elegantly marks the end of a tree-lined Wrigley Square lawn space in Millennium Park. Similar to Central Park in New York City, the lawn was designed as an inviting space for visitors to relax and to stroll along adjacent walking paths. The beautiful, 40-foot-tall Peristyle monument is composed of Doric columns and includes inscriptions by the founders of Millennium Park in its base. Bybee Stone Company Inc. of Bloomington, Ind., carved the monument out of Indiana limestone.
California features a fountain so stunning that the prince of Saudi Arabia once asked the designer and carver – Bakerfield’s House of Stone, Inc. – if the fountain could be disassembled and shipped to his country. Amazed at this request, House of Stone’s owner Eric Dobbs advised the prince that the weight and size of the fountain (60 feet in circumference) would make air travel difficult and expensive. Still persistent, the prince requested an actual cost estimate for the fountain’s transport. When the figure came in at more than $185,000, the prince decided instead to purchase the fountain’s eight-page set of plans so that he could have it replicated in Saudi Arabia.
House of Stone also creates fountains for the bold Las Vegas strip – a place well known for outstanding outdoor sculpture. Dobbs states that a hand-carved fountain of natural stone, accented with a water and light show, is so visually stunning that it actually competes with the excitement of Las Vegas. House of Stone Inc. is completing much of the stone carving currently in progress for The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino.
Natural Stone for Outdoor Installations
Understanding natural stone is a science and an art. Robert Ripley of Carved Stone Creations from Kaukauna, WI, extensively researches different qualities of natural stone and what happens to these natural stones when installed outdoors. He reports that the greatest amount of detail can be created with marble, a material that can showcase subtleties of fabric and specific features, such as hair, on a sculpture. Granite, Ripley explains, has a tendency to chip off more easily during the carving process, making small details more difficult to highlight. Ripley describes the difference between carving in marble and granite like the difference between using clay and wet beach sand for a creation.
Marble is not often highly recommended for outdoor locations, however, because of the damage that can occur to the stone from freeze/thaw cycles. If marble is used outdoors, it needs to be sealed in the fall during the dry season so that moisture penetration does not occur during the winter and spring seasons. Though it seems insignificant, moisture can penetrate into marble’s microscopic veins and cause significant damage if it starts to expand during a freezing bout. Additionally, minerals in marble fade over time from ultraviolet rays breaking down their colors. When marble is used outdoors, it will weather and consequently show a patina quality – a color some find very beautiful.
Conversely, granite is an idyllic material for sculptures located outside; it will endure the elements twice as long as marble. Granite also is the most resistant to freeze/thaw cycles because its moisture absorption rate is between 1 percent and 3 percent [Correction: the absorption of granite is 0.02-0.4%]. Further, the colors in granite will not fade in ultraviolet light because its colors were “baked” into the stone during its formation through the lava process.
Jerry Williams, owner of Barre Sculpture Studios in Montpelier, VT, states that certain considerations are necessary to protect granite when it is combined with elements such as electricity, water, and fire. Williams conceived, engineered, and carved a breathtaking piece that combines granite and fire. One of Barre’s clients requested a table that could be used for an annual father and son camp out. The table would be used near a campfire. Williams proposed a sensational idea with the fire actually be located inside the table. The project is eight feet in diameter and made of Dakota Mahogany granite. The center has a custom-made iron fire pit with bronze lid. The granite is insulated to protect the structural integrity of the stone from the heat of the fire.
