When designer Sabine Schoenberg was com-missioned to work on the renovation of a home in Greenwich, CT, her goal was to focus on the next generation of home building. From her perspective, this would consist of smart, healthy and green home features complete with compact, yet dramatic, design layouts for today’s lifestyles.

For the exterior of the home, strip stone and stacked fieldstone were chosen for the foundation and base of the exterior of the house, as well as for the chimney. The same material was then brought into the fireplace in the family room for the purpose of creating a dynamic inside to outside feeling.

The stone products used were selected personally by Schoenberg. “Materials, colors and textures make up the composition of a design and become the expression — the look and feel of a room,” she explained. “For example, the color of the countertop has to work with the stone surround of the fireplace, both have to work with the kitchen cabinets — nothing happens in isolation or as a standalone. For those reasons, I insist on samples to be reviewed in the actual physical space, with actual lighting conditions, size and room relationships. I would never deal with a supplier who does not make samples available.”

Keeping this in mind, the designer selected 1,315 square feet of fieldstone, left raw, for the chimney and house’s foundation. The fieldstone, as well as the natural flagstone employed for the floor in the porch, rear terrace and front walkway, was supplied by Gault Stone in Westport, CT.

Additionally, Schoenberg chose Dekton by Cosentino in the color white for the kitchen perimeter countertops and island, which was fabricated by Dushi Marble and Granite in Stamford, CT. For the island, the designer chose a high-gloss polished finish, while the counters feature a matte finish.

In the powder room, a dramatic vertical wall behind the sink is created with a rough-cut, white stacked dolomite, which was supplied by Lima Ceramic in Stamford, CT.

Moreover, 12- x 24-inch dolomite pieces with a polished finish were installed in a large shower in combination with a simple, structured, light gray Carrara and White Thassos marble.

According to Schoenberg, designing a new house does come with its share of obstacles. “I insisted the masons establish clear horizontal lines in the strip stone around the foundation,” she said. “Working with natural pieces at times made this difficult. They got into wavy patterns.  I had to insist a few times that whole sections were ripped and redone in order to create a clear horizontal pattern/line, albeit with variations.”

In the end, the designer’s hard work and dedication paid off. “Everyone loves the exterior stacked stone base and chimney as well as at the family room fireplace,” said Schoenberg. “Mostly everyone talks about how beautiful the outside porch is, and frankly, everyone favorably comments on the marble in the master bath. Another favorite is the natural, white stacked stone in the powder room behind the sink. Many have used terms like ‘elegant texture,’ ‘rough yet sophisticated’ and ‘natural and refined.’”