There is an art to building a stone wall


Nate Vance, left, and Matt Persechino of Contoocook Stone Works add stones to a wall they built on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Check out this stone wall built by Matt Persechino and Nate Vance of Contoocook Stone Works on Hopkinton Road.

Above: Take a look at how professional this stone wall is.  Right: With all these stones, there must be some tough decisions.

Above: Take a look at how professional this stone wall is. Right: With all these stones, there must be some tough decisions.

If you look closely, you will see them everywhere. They line the front yards on the outskirts of town, found haphazardly in the woods and at one point they were likely used to settle property disputes.

We’re talking about stone walls – and when you see one you can’t help but wonder the history behind them. Who built it? How long had he been there? Why was it built?

Sure, we could probably throw a few stones together and call it a wall, but in all likelihood it wouldn’t last that long. Not as long as the one we found Matt Persechino and Nate Vance from the Contoocook Stone Works building.

You see, last week we received an email from a loyal reader (thanks Brian) telling us about this stone wall he passed on his way to work which has been described as “a craftsman building a stone wall “at the corner of Hopkinton Road and Long Pond Road – and that we should check out.

So we thought, why not?

On Friday we made the long way to the office, avoiding freeways and all traffic lights to see what it was.

Sure enough, there were two guys (Persechino and Vance) who were building a stone wall. And we had to ask a few questions – which they were obliged to answer with pleasure.

What we have learned is that building a stone wall is truly an art form. It may look like you are putting a pile of stones in the shape of a wall, but there is much more to it.

Persechino, owner of Contoocook Stone Works, learned the European way of building a stone wall from a guy, who learned from an old man. And now he’s teaching Vance.

“The technique I use is passed down from the stonemasons,” Persechino said.

The wall they were working on and expected to be completed at the start of this week was about 25 years old, but there were issues. Persechino expects this one to last four times as long, but it will be up to future insiders to see if it lasts that long. Do not think that we have another 100 years in us.

After demolishing the existing wall, the duo began with a solid base of leveled potting soil and crushed stone. The issues with the previous iteration were with the background, which in turn jeopardized the entire structure of it. This is why Persechino attaches so much importance to the lower part of the wall.

“The issues that you see with many stone walls are at the bottom,” Persechino said.

After you’ve leveled the base well and evenly distributed the crushed stone – about a foot wide for every foot of height – you start with large base stones. You want the big and heavy at the bottom to support the weight of everyone who goes upstairs.

You also want the wall to lean a bit, but not enough for it to be noticeable.

“If you can make the stones fall into each other that’s great,” Persechino said.

And what you really need from each stone is a good face (or a flat side) that people will see. The rest of what it looks like doesn’t really matter because it will be buried by all the other rocks.

“It’s a natural ability to match shapes,” Persechino said.

The beauty of a stone wall is that everyone is unique. Since no rock is the same, you will never be able to use the same approach from wall to wall. So in other words, you need to know if a stone is good for the base, one of the layers, or perfect as a topper.

“A lot of the job is getting really good with the angles in your head and getting the angles right,” Persechino said.

If it has a good face, it can be used for any of the outdoor places people will see. But some stones just don’t have a bright side that a wall builder would want to show. It does not matter, because the middle must also be filled.

“The key is to make the stones touch each other in three places as closely as possible,” said Persechino.

This is where the work of the sledgehammer and the chisel comes in. Sometimes they have to break a stone to make it stand.

“It’s a question of form,” said Persechino. “Each stone has a purpose. ”

Persechino and Vance worked on the wall for just over a month, covering around 200 feet. And they basically used whatever stones were there except to bring a load towards the end, which they usually find in farms, rock dumps in fields, and logging operations.

“It definitely takes a while to get it right,” Persechino said.

For more information and photos of other projects, visit contoocookstoneworks.com or facebook.com/contoocookstoneworks.


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