Located in downtown Santa Barbara, Stoneyard Building Materials is more than just your typical supply yard. Stoneyard Building Materials specializes in Old World technique and craftsmanship when it comes to rock. Not only does Stoneyard Building quarry some of the rock the company sells, they also hand cut much of the stone they provide to local contractors.

Stoneyard Building Materials opened their doors for business in March 1998. The company is the brainchild of owners Mike Harrington and his partner Chris Scott. Harrington had his contractor’s license and had been building custom homes in the Santa Barbara area for years. Chris had been working as a stone mason for years when the two men met on a project. “Chris was my stone mason on a restoration project,” said Mike. “We were restoring a Pompeian villa here in Santa Barbara. The project took four years to complete, so I got to know Chris quite well over the time we worked on the restoration.” Shortly after they completed their work on the villa the two men decided to go into business for themselves.

Stoneyard Building Materials has established itself within a niche industry. “What we do has sort of an old world sensibility to it,” said Mike. The company has its own production site where they hand split the stone. Crews will hand split boulders up to a whopping 60-inch diameter. Most common material suppliers now simply cut the stone with large saw blades ranging from 2 -3 foot and then give the stone a “hand chiseled” look. Stoneyard Building Materials splits their rock the old fashioned way, using rudimentary hand saws, chisels, hammers and wedges. This process gives the stone a rustic, European look.

(Top Left) Stoneyard Building Materials, Inc. uses a John Deere 410D Extend-a-Hoe to pull out a cutting rock. (Bottom Left) Mike attending to a customer in the Milpas St. showroom.

The company carries a wide selection of flagstone including Oklahoma Stone, New England Bluestone, Montana Stone and Idaho Quartzsite. “Probably the most popular of the flagstones is the Oklahoma Stone,” said Mike. “This rock is extremely popular for patios mainly because of its coloration. It is very similar to our local landscape boulders and so ties in very nicely.” Stoneyard Building also imports rock from around the world.

The flagstone generally comes in two different size sheets. Patio flagstone is a sheet that ranges from 2-4 square feet and under. Select flagstone is 4-6 square feet and over per sheet. When the rock is brought into the company’s materials yard it is sorted by size and quality. The larger stone is graded out for cutting. The smaller pieces are set aside for general landscape use. The local Santa Barbara sandstone boulders lend themselves well for hand splitting. In addition to the wide assortment of rock that they carry, Stoneyard Building Materials specializes in antique-style concrete interlocking pavers as well. The pavers are durable and very aesthetically pleasing, coming in a variety of styles.

Among the many projects for which Stoneyard Building Materials has supplied the stone, one of the most prominent is the San Ysidro Guest Ranch. The hotel was built near the turn of the last century and has been host to a number of celebrities over the years. John and Jackie Kennedy spent their honeymoon at the facility. As various parts of the San Ysidro Guest Ranch fell into disrepair they were usually just patched up. This is the first complete historic restoration the facility has undergone. Stoneyard Building Materials has supplied approximately 250 tons of stone in the remodel project. The stone is being used to refurbish everything from the walls, chimney caps, windowsills, cottage patios, the restaurant floor and the sidewalks.

In addition to the hotel restoration project, Stoneyard Building Materials has supplied stone to a Los Angeles contractor handling a high-end multi-million dollar housing project in Lake Forest. The company has also supplied the stone for the Ojai Country Club, and the Santa Barbara County Bowl.

Stoneyard Building Materials is currently supplying the stone being used in the construction of a parking garage at Santa Barbara’s Cottage Hospital.

Even chain stores must keep with the local building schemes. When Ralph’s built their store in Santa Barbara, Stoneyard Building Materials was the company that supplied the rock
for the store’s wall and caps. Likewise in keeping with the city’s hardscape, many of the public walkways and curbing are sandstone. Whenever repair work is being completed on these areas it is Stoneyard Building Materials that is supplying the necessary rock.

Stoneyard Building Materials has three separate yards, all located conveniently in the downtown area of Santa Barbara. Their showroom is at 201 N. Milpas Street. The storage yard is right across the street from the showroom. The company’s production yard is on a 1.5 acre lot at 132 Garden Street.

Sammy Rodriguez using the John Deere 270 skidsteer to deliver rock for processing.