Stone Fireplace, Stone Staircase, Limestone Fireplaces

One ot the biggest stone projects in the World this year is the rebuilding of Berlin Castle (stadtschloss). This immense building will become the  main tourist attraction in Berlin, and will have shops; restaurants and bars, and a luxury hotel. It will be built in stone, and will be entirely financed with private money. Although some areas will be built in concrete and rendered, all main aspects and all architectural details including mullion windows; stone fireplaces; stone stairs; stone walls etc. will be in solid stone.

The original castle was demolished by the East Germans in 1950 as it represented all that they hated about the ‘old’ Germany. (No doubt now, after reunification, they wish they’d kept it?) Anyway, they completely razed it to the ground and just an empty patch of land was left.

After years of talks and negotiation, and several German governments baulking at the cost of the project, the rebuilding has begun, or at least the offsite masonry work has begun! The new building will have three facades that are the same as the original Castle, but the interior will be all modern. This is partly for practical reasons, and partly because there were never any detailed plans or drawings of the interior, so it would be impossible to replicate.

No doubt there will be some incredible examples of stone masonry within this incredible building. Grand stone staircases, massive stone fireplaces; towering stone mullion windows. Just about all the things that a stone mason could make.

We look forward to visiting it when it is completed!

Well what a welcome back to work! Minus 8 and very chilly!!!  Happy New Year to everyone, and here’s to a good 2010.  We have some exciting new ideas for this year: More new stone fireplace designs, and some impressive new staircases ideas. We are also sourcing some new limestone from Spain, and have lots of other ideas for your stone fireplace when you’re ready to order it.

We have some very nice hearth stone for your fireplace this year too, and if you’re going to have an open fire, or a wood stove both of which involve ‘messy’ fuel, then you want a hearth that can withstand a bit of hard punishment. We will still stock our reclaimed Quarry tiles, and as ever they are up to the job, and can stand any amount of bad treatment.

The forecast for the next couple of months is VERY cold. So if you have got an open fire, then you want to get it fuelled up and make sure you have plenty of good logs in your store. And remember, the drier your wood, the better your fire will be!  You can of course use coal in your stone fireplace, depending on what sort of dog basket you have, or if you have a ‘multi-fuel’ stove.  In either case, try and keep your house warm avoid and check that all your pipes are well lagged to avoid any possible burst pipes or other frost damage.

Happy New year again.