Luserna stone
The Great
Hearth Hall
The hall is a stage of half-light. A single beam falls upon the great fireplace in split-face Luserna stone, rising six metres to antique larch beams reclaimed from an eighteenth-century barn. The fire is the only actor upon the stage; the gold of one burnished brass detail, the only applause. Beyond the full-height glazing the snow falls slowly, and the stone wall seems to carry the mountain onward into the house. Every block would be split by hand in our workshop, following the natural grain, so that the warmth of the fire might meet a material still alive.