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Charcoal XL on a Modern Long Island Home Exterior

One of the more satisfying parts of our job here at Norstone is getting a chance to work with our clients and then see the actual results in the form of either photos they send us or actual site visits to projects where our stone was used. This modern inspired home on New York’s Long Island was one of those project as we started working with design – build firm a few months out when they came across our natural stone products. They were looking for a large format natural stone product that would fit the clean modern lines of their project and fall in the grey to dark grey color range.

The product ultimately selected was the Charcoal color in our XL Series Rock Panel. The XL Series features the largest individual stones in any panel system that we offer and comes in a stepped end panel format to eliminate vertical seams in the installation. As with all of our panel series products, finger jointed outside corner units and natural ends are also available to ensure all the details of an installation are checked off.

Norstone Charcoal XL Series Close Up of a Single Field Unit

The product was used in a bump out space that extends out from the main side wall of the house. The bump out is unique in that it’s only one floor tall, creating the opportunity to have an elevated outdoor area on a flat roof above the bump out. We really like how the design team used a stainless steel cap piece and bracket to hold up the frame less smoked out glass railing. Stainless steel and smoked out glass offer a very complementary color pallet to the dark grey hues of the charcoal and are a perfect fit for the modern vibe of this design.

The scale of the XL Series panels is also a great fit for an exterior stone veneer application such as this one, especially on full or multi story applications. The XL series provides just enough of dimensionality and geometry in design that the designers were looking for without being too busy like a smaller format stacked stone panel system might look like.

Norstone Charcoal XL Stone Veneer Panel used on the exterior of a residential home on a bump out with an open air terrace on the flat roof above it

Apart from the aforementioned stainless steel and glass components, some of the things that really stand out in this exterior to us are all the other complimentary surfaces and products that are part of this design. The ultra smooth stucco walls are designed to look as close as possible to a polished concrete tilt up wall to give off that industrial modern vibe and serve as a nice foil texture wise to the dimensionality of the stacked stone panels. The dark pavers walkway and patio that border the space reinforces the color scheme of this entire space while also not straying from the clean modern lines found in the stone and other surfaces. Lastly, the black granite rip rap size boulders give great contrast to the variety of smooth textures and help bring a more natural element of design set against the pavers, smooth stucco, glass and steel.

Norstone Charcoal XL Stone Veneer Panel used on the side exterior wall of a modern designed residential home on Long Island

One final thing that we wanted to point out was the interesting contrast the stone is showing off as it dries out after a rainstorm in these photos. Most of the time you wouldn’t want to photograph an installation showing it partially wet, but there’s something about the way the stone and the stucco look as they dry out, set against the glossy wet look of the pavers that really makes these photos pop. One of the great things about any installation of natural stone veneer products is that as the product gets wet and then dries out the stone almost starts to come alive on the wall as it goes from a darker wet color to a lighter dry color. Sealing natural stone mitigates this effect, which is something to consider when sealing the stone is optional and not required based on the specifics of an installation. There’s not too many other durable products for exteriors that give you that kind of show!

Thanks for taking a look at this awesome Charcoal XL stone panel installation. Norstone has been making premium architectural grade natural stone veneer products for over 15 years. Contact us today to learn more about our products for your next stone project.

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Norstone's New Dimensions in Natural Stone blog aims to discuss design themes, sources of inspiration, and how the world around us influences our creative interpretation and buying preferences.

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