THE COLOR OF LOST SUNLIGHT: COTSWOLD STONE

Cotswold Stone used for a radial fountain and concave wall in Northern California

“The truth is that it has no colour that can be described. Even when the sun is obscured and the light is cold, these walls are still faintly warm and luminous, as if they knew the trick of keeping the lost sunlight of centuries glimmering about them.” British writer JB Priestley describing Cotswold Stone

Castle Combe, a small Cotswold village photo by Saffron Blaze

Located in south-central and southwest England, the poetic Cotswolds is farmed for its golden-colored stone from the Jurassic period. Cotswold Stone, an oolitic limestone, rich in marine fossils, forms the bedrock of the rolling Cotswold Hills that cross the country from southwest to northeast. Quarried since the Romans discovered it, the abundant building material characterizes the district’s fairy tale villages, regal estates, and drystone walls that etch its roads and fields. Because of the majesty of Cotswold’s rural countryside and the unique qualities of its stone, the UK protected its landscape as an “Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.”

Cotswold Stone in the quarry

For a client that loved the Cotswolds, and the English Arts and Crafts designs found there QuarryHouse sourced the stone directly from the Cotswolds' quarries. Working with a dream team of interior designers, The Wiseman Group, architects, Ike Kligerman Barkley, Van Acker Construction, and the late landscape architect Ron Herman, they translated the luminous quality of the region to Northern California. For the Peninsula home's hardscape, the limestone's fine-grained texture with some shell and compression layers visible was a perfect choice. It is creamy in color but contains subtle color variations adding warmth and beauty to the stone. Cotswold Stone is some of the most beautiful and durable building material to be found anywhere in the world.