Surprise In Stone

Design by Rich Andreu, Exclusive Stoneworks
Photography by James Puzo
Text by Darius Amos

Rich Andreu and his firm, Lyndhurst-based Exclusive Stoneworks, were initially asked to install the stone veneer of a new Springfield home. “We were supposed to begin after the driveway was done,” he says of the project. But it turned out that they were called upon for much more.

Scheduling conflicts halted the original driveway and backyard patio plans, so the homeowner asked Andreu’s team to step in to do the work. They put a temporary driveway and worked with the homeowner to “make tweaks” to the original design plans.

There were other challenges too,” Andreu recalls. “It was a new-construction home, so the entire property was still a disaster, with dirt and a lot of rocks everywhere.”

Patio furniture by RH graces the dining area and sun deck, while the centerpiece of the outdoor kitchen is a 54-inch Alfresco grill.

Many rocks and much debris were cleared from the 13,000-square-foot backyard, allowing SJ Pools and Landscaping of Paramus to install a swimming pool and a hot tub. Andreu added a finishing touch around the pool, installing a patio made of Braen Supply Bellagio sandblasted marble with a 12-inch bluestone border. To complete the resort feel, chaise longues and patio umbrellas from RH were placed next to the pool, giving sunbathers easy access to the water when they want to cool off.

The kitchen, dining area and fire pit are connected by 2-foot-by-2-foot bluestone.

The same stonework is found in the dining area and the outdoor kitchen. The kitchen features a 54-inch Alfresco grill for this barbecue-loving family and a covered lounge area with television and fireplace. And just steps from the pool and kitchen areas is the firepit, where Andreu and company installed a Warming Trends burner as the centerpiece. But the fire feature isn’t the only source of nighttime illumination.

“We installed lights in the patio, with 2-inch coring drilled through the marble slabs,” says Andreu. “The owners live behind a golf course, so it’s very dark at night. Lighting was an important part of the backyard, and we’re happy to have included it in the plan.”

Braen Supply Bellagio sand-blasted marble surrounds the pool, which was designed and installed by SJ Pools and Landscaping in Paramus.

Greg Imhoff of Greg Imhoff Visionscape Design in Ringwood created a landscape plan to complement the hardscape. While plenty of grassy areas were preserved for the couple’s four kids to run on, assorted plants and flowers such as blue spruce, hydrangeas, lilacs and daisies provide plenty of visual interest along the border of the property.

When the backyard was complete, Exclusive Stoneworks circled back to tackle the driveway. The homeowners selected Cambridge’s Brick Alley pavers, which were custom-colored, and the team laid them in a double herringbone pattern. Those pavers were then bordered with Cambridge’s Belgium 5-pc stones, also in a custom hue.

“It was a long project for everyone,” Andreu says, “but the homeowners got exactly what they wanted.”