Rustic fieldstone exteriors have graced everything from English Manors of the countryside to the downtown row-houses of Quebec City and Montreal. There’s a reason we love sitting next to these old masonry walls when we’re eating in restaurants and other hospitality settings, it offers an intrinsic sense of warmth, texture, and a historic characteristic that is authentic to this material. The specific inspiration behind Jesse’s fascination and love for the texture this material has to offer comes from the rustically rambling manors of the english countryside. An example of this material can be found on the exterior of the Contemporary English Manor and Contemporary English Country Bungalow project by Jesse Sahlani.

Fabricated limestone block and panels are a favorite of Jesse’s for both French Chateau and Tudor Revival style homes. Offering a far more contemporary or authentically traditional style depending on how you lay/install this material. There is a certain luxurious charm that comes from the yellow hue it radiates. The size of the blocks should also be decided in the context of the proportions of the structure, for example using large format panels would lead a viewer to read the home as having a contemporary flare, and smaller blocks would connote more traditional undertones. This effect can be achieved with any limestone material but Jesse’s preference is to specifically use Egyptian or Indiana limestone. Check out the blog about our travels to the Louvre as well as the catacombs to learn more about Paris Stone, another historical stone that is a favorite of Jesse’s.

Another rendition of limestone detailing is Vermiculation, which is a detail also found on the exterior of the Louvre. Vermiculation is a distinct limestone pattern that features dense clusters of hand-carved irregularly shaped lines that “look like worms” in the most common of descriptions. This stone pattern originated in the Renaissance period and was often featured at ground level to add texture and contrast to the smooth limestone pillars or blocks above, while also creating a feeling of solidity and intention. This old-world European masonry detail is one that Jesse finds particularly interesting because of the nod it can offer to the historic structures of the past.

Fluted Limestone is a design detail that dates back to Ancient Greek and Renaissance architecture. This “fluted” pattern of sorts was also used in more ornamental profiles as top-of-wall bandings from the 1800’s onward. While there is a range of unique placements and formats of this material, Jesse often opts to use it on door headers, railings, and window sashes. This feature serves to add a refined texture that offers a sleek sense of ornament, helping to differentiate the feature area from regular masonry block, for example. Jesse recently specified a rather contemporary version of this material for his Mid-Century Modern Revival home that utilized a horizontally fluted limestone, as well as on the exterior of a Traditional French Chateau home featured on the left.

Tapered base stone masonry corners are an elegantly timeless design detail that was similarly created to offer a sense of sturdiness to the streetscape. Additionally, tapered pilasters create this effect, adding a sleek yet historically elegant design undertone to any structure they are incorporated into. Features of this nature can be used to intentionally create a sense of width and depth of detail that offers a nod to original historical design style renditions. Jesse first saw this detail when we were walking the streets of Bern, Switzerland’s downtown core. Hundreds of meters of identical row-houses-turned-retail spaces with mixed-use apartments above feature tapered pilasters that serve to break up the monotony of the streetscape.

Red brick archways paired with a rustic limestone or field stone is a charming contrast in Jesse’s eyes, offering a touch of traditional design that exudes a warm and inviting tone upon approach. This feature not only introduces a change in the texture of the rough stone, it also offers a unique contrast. The incorporation of this traditional detail is often used by Jesse to offer a nod to the Spanish and Italian villas that effortlessly offer a casually stylish mixture of styles.

Art-Deco was a style that became popular in France in the 1920s and in North America in the 1930s. This design style reflected modernism being turned into fashion, where the ornate details of the past were interpreted in a more linear and geometric way. It is for this reason that the Art-Deco style stepped window surrounds are a favorite of Jesse’s, especially when it comes to French Chateau design, whether it be in traditional or contemporary forms. Everything about this detail, no matter how small it is, adds a layer of design depth that adds a sense of elegance that can only be fulfilled by a design style that is this subtly opulent. Jesse specified this detail for both the Contemporary French Chateau as well as Chateau Donalda, replacing what is often considered a “boring” part of a facade with an intentional detail that any architecture lover can appreciate.

Limestone spires and unique chimney accents can objectively be considered a hobby for Jesse to design, especially when he is designing a Tudor or Jacobean home. The range of proportions that these unique ornamental details allow Jesse to explore, detail, and place offers a world of characteristic and timeless design opportunities. These features naturally offer an intimidatingly historic look to almost any home they are paired with. These features also offer the opportunity to perfectly complement the intended stylistic direction, whether that be a contemporary or a historically accurate rendition. Our favorite examples of these details were the spires and chimneys featured on the Tudor Revival Estate home as well as the Traditional Tudor Revival homes that Jesse designed within the past two years. These designs by Jesse reference the timeless stonework on the exterior of Athelhampton House, a rendition of Jesse’s favorite era of Tudor design in a country manor format that was built starting around 1480.

The use of exterior cladding materials on interior walls is important in the context of creating an indoor/outdoor connection, as well as a sense of solidity, making the interior walls appear as if the home’s structure was composed of these materials. For these reasons, bringing the outside in through the use of exterior materials within the home is a favorite of Jesse’s to incorporate into his interior design plans when he is seeing through both the custom home design and the interior design. Our favorite example of Jesse’s use of this feature is when the same stone clads both the exterior chimney and interior fireplace at our Swansea Hilltop Lookout project as well as the Contemporary English Country home.