Natural Stone Countertops

To appreciate the modern countertop, one has to step back in time to the earliest countertops. When a cook needed more than a stone hearth, they used the most abundant materials available, which were stone and wood.

Later, local soapstone and slate became the stone options chosen by many builders when creating countertops. Marble was the choice for bakers, as it provided a cold, beautiful surface upon which to knead and roll out their dough.

There was a period where modernization led us away from stone and wood as the predominant countertop materials. We made countertops out of ceramic tile, Formica, and other low-durability materials. But, as we quickly learned, cheap materials were easily damaged and didn’t offer the longevity of stone. As a result, the demand for remodeling seemed endless.

Instead of becoming victims to our folly, and repeating these mistakes, we accepted the lesson and returned to stone materials for countertops. The increased cost became a point of value since stone offers longevity and an ROI upon resale that other materials did not. The introduction of granite countertops into kitchens in the nineties took kitchen design by storm.