Once upon a time, I was sitting at home, with my first born in my lap. Any of you moms out there familiar with those good old days? The ones where your first baby was maybe nursing or napping and you just sat because 1. you were exhausted and couldn’t possibly fathom doing anything like laundry and 2. you didn’t really have to do anything else so you could actually binge on a little television? Just me?
Sometimes, I really miss those days. Others, I’m really glad I can hand that baby back after I get my fix because we’re in a sweet spot with their ages now. I don’t intend to get crazy and mix it up because college is expensive. Also, I plan to retire in Tahiti while I can still enjoy it. See ya, suckas.
But alas, major digression. Because on that day with a sleeping, satisfied baby, Candice Olson was on her show, {Candace and I were tight at the time, she just didn’t realize it} and she’d just completed a kitchen makeover for a family.
Her countertop of choice? Was soapstone.
And I was smitten. Like obsessively smitten. Look it up, read all about it, research photos of all the soapstone, smitten. For years. Like a moth to a flame and other bad metaphors, I was absolutely over the top obsessed with this stone. And I swore to myself in the moment, that one day my kitchen would have soapstone countertops.
So the day this piece was installed in a much-needed makeover was about ten years later. And it felt like a full-circle, home-goals kinda moment for me. If you’ve been on this journey for a while, then you know that we have loved our kitchen rehab. There are so many elements that went into it, but one of our very favorites is this living, breathing, part-of-the-earth stone that we’ve brought into it. {By the way, you can read all about how we feel about marble + soapstone in these posts here now that we’ve enjoyed them in our home for a while.}
We were thrilled to source our countertops locally: Alberene Soapstone from Polycor’s Virginia quarry + Marble from Polycor’s Georgia quarry.
So when we had the chance to actually see the quarry, we jumped at that chance. Because hidden away in the woods of Georgia, it’s like a hidden city.
A hidden gem, literally.
And who wouldn’t want to tour a quarry? Honestly, geology wasn’t really my thing in college… they called it rocks for jocks. But I think I missed a few too many classes because it was actually a lot more to it than for which they gave credit. And now that we’ve actually seen it in the earth, call us stone geeks because it. was. amazing.
The Tate quarry isn’t usually open to the public, so we feel like we got a one of a kind look and amazing private tour of an incredible place. And we wanted to share it with all of you.
We love the fact that they’re a long-standing, hard working American company. We can’t encourage you enough to source some of your projects from their quarry for your next project you may have in the works.
Total side note, but for what it’s worth, I think I wear hardhats better than Jamin. I mean, can we just take a moment and appreciate that? I think it’s because my hair fills it out since I usually have a freakishly tiny baby head.
We were rocking those hardhats. I just pulled mine off a little better.
From the history behind their Georgia quarry, to the processes in moving and converting the stone, and their finishes, we are enamored.
When you look at materials with a designer or fabricator or builder for your home, it’s easy to become fixated on color and just the general look and how it works for your aesthetic. Without considering where on earth it came from. {No pun intended.} When you walk into a building or monument that uses natural stone, you get a bit of that idea for a grander scale.
But the expertise and artisanship and hard work that goes behind it just blows our minds. I think that’s one of the reasons why I’ve always been obsessed with natural stones. There’s no imitating it. There’s a story and a history there. And it’s something we can’t even begin to fathom.
And who would have guessed this was in Georgia?
To think about where these stones come from is astounding. From the sweat and hard work of real people – I think we take that for granted. As well as the history behind it… from Europe they perfected the process and over the years it was used here in America. And here we are, using these pieces in our homes. Like it’s no big deal.
Here’s me. And then here’s the God-given amazing earth where these pieces are actually cut. It can make you feel kinda small… in a good way.
I think we have a real piece of history in our homes and architecture and places we see every day, that are in general, taken for granted.
Here’s a video from Polycor that basically puts it much better than we ever could {refresh if the video isn’t loading – it’s worth the watch}
From their site: The Tate quarry has been in operation since 1835 and has supplied the marble to iconic American structures like the Lincoln Memorial, the United States Capitol, the New York Stock Exchange and even the restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
We were just in New York this past fall, and had no idea the very places we saw were built using marble from the very same quarry we’d be sourcing for our kitchen.
Who knew?
I think when you see it on this scale, you think about larger buildings and monuments and capitals. I think it’s so exciting to mix this material into homes, too.
So to see their processes, and tour their plant, was just something that was very educational and enlightening.
Polycor processes its own stone, so that means they’re able to maintain fair labor processes, and a lower carbon footprint, for starters.
via – photo taken in 1914
And while we weren’t able to photograph any of their actual equipment, {for privacy reasons} we did love seeing the process.
From cut, to transportation, to processing and all the little steps in between, it was overwhelmingly fascinating.
From their site: Polycor’s quarry is home to White Georgia Marble, White Cherokee Marble, Pearl Grey Marble {what you see in our kitchen} and Solar Grey Marble. There is even an older area they call the Etowah Quarry, where we extract a light pink-colored marble called Etowah with a pronounced white and grey vein pattern.
You can see more of their marble samples, and even order samples here. They. Are. Gorgeous.
Georgia marble is known for its durability and strength.
We still say it’s so important to investigate materials and ask the question “why” when considering something for you home. So many people tend to freak out over marble because of stories they’ve heard, without checking it out for themselves. We love that we sampled their marble, and ended up trying it out. There’s just so much more out there in the options category than the usual, and it’s really a cool thing to consider them.
And y’all.
We’ve all been to marble yards before, but here we were like kids in a candy store, walking through and viewing all their beautiful, finished pieces.
I’m pretty sure I was drooling.
We were also able to get a look at another unique product that they make with their sister company, Vetrazzo.
It was one of the coolest processes we’ve ever seen, but from piles of recycled glass…
To gorgeously finished pieces… this is something they’re known for. I’m officially obsessed with this one in particular.
Poolside countertops anyone? This is just scratching the surface in the inspiration category.
The entire visit was so inspiring – ideas for days.
We can’t wait to continue to work with Polycor in the future, and send our clients their way for locally sourced, hard-working, responsible materials made in America.
Thanks for tuning in, and letting us share. We hope you find it as inspiring as we did.
It was such a treat, so a big thanks to Polycor for their time and showing us their awesome business.
As always, let us know if we can answer any questions for you.
Have an inspired day!
anna says
THIS. IS gorgeous! I love how every time we come to your blog, we never quite know just what we’ll get. But this is a treat. I have never seen a quarry before and it is amazing. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Dela Ampofo says
Because Polycor processes its own stone, we are able to maintain a clear supply chain, maintaining quality work, fair labor practices. Thanks guys.