Our Story
Hello and Welcome to American Stonecraft!
My name is Gerald Croteau III.
I’m from Massachusetts
What I love most about home are the dry-laid stonewalls. You can find them throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Vermont and even Pennsylvania.
These stone fences made of New England fieldstone mark where there was once a farm.
I’m from Massachusetts
What I love most about home are the dry-laid stonewalls. You can find them throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Vermont and even Pennsylvania.
These stone fences made of New England fieldstone mark where there was once a farm.
Stonewalls are beautiful and also under threat. A USDA survey in the 1930s found more miles of stone fences in New York and New England than miles between the Earth and the Moon. However, tens of thousands of miles have since been lost to road construction, suburban sprawl, and most recently due to stone cutting mills that buy miles of stonewalls to cut fieldstone cladding for homes. Talk about bad karma!
At American Stonecraft we only work from fieldstones that we freshly harvest from the ground.
How Do You Harvest Rocks?
Great question!
As a former economist, I realized that I could share our colorful local geology in a sustainable way. How? By partnering with local farmers, because it is those farmers whose fields grow a fresh crop of rocks every year! We turn the farmers’ obstacle into something useful & treasured while also raising awareness for the New England fieldstone and its place in the stonewalls of our region that we hope to preserve for years to come.
The science is that as the ground freezes and thaws in the winter and spring, the soil is expanding and contracting. Smaller pebbles and soil particles get underneath bigger rocks, and force them to rise. Every spring there is a new crop!
The science is that as the ground freezes and thaws in the winter and spring, the soil is expanding and contracting. Smaller pebbles and soil particles get underneath bigger rocks, and force them to rise. Every spring there is a new crop!
American Stonecraft is a Massachusetts art studio that uses only fresh harvested rocks from working farms to make our beautiful dishes such as coasters, food slabs, dinner plates, and trivets. Finished goods label the farm where they were gathered and the artisan that crafted the piece. By using freshly harvested rocks, our work is sustainable and not a threat to stonewalls. Our mission is both to raise awareness about the history of fieldstone (in turn creating educated citizens who want to preserve it) and to make beautiful products that farmers can share with their neighbors and generate extra income.
American Stonecraft is a Massachusetts art studio that uses only fresh harvested rocks from working farms to make our beautiful dishes such as coasters, food slabs, dinner plates, and trivets. Finished goods label the farm where they were gathered and the artisan that crafted the piece. By using freshly harvested rocks, our work is sustainable and not a threat to stonewalls. Our mission is both to raise awareness about the history of fieldstone (in turn creating educated citizens who want to preserve it) and to make beautiful products that farmers can share with their neighbors and generate extra income.
You are probably wondering how I started this business. The truth is that my lifelong dream was to be an entrepreneur, however, I never would have expected to be working with stone. The reality is that like you, I love seeing the stonewalls of Massachusetts and New England. Having set out to discover the world, I was living first in Washington, DC working as an economist, and then in Dubai working in real estate. On a trip back to Massachusetts, I discovered sawn-open fieldstones and I was shocked at how colorful the geology looked. My whole life, I had only seen the outside of the local rocks, not realizing that intricate beauty was lying just beneath the rough exterior! I wanted to share this experience with others, promote the history of New England, and do it in a sustainable way that would leave walls intact and help support local farms in the process. I founded American Stonecraft LLC in 2012, and in 2016 we incorporated in Massachusetts as a Benefit Corporation.
You are probably wondering how I started this business. The truth is that my lifelong dream was to be an entrepreneur, however, I never would have expected to be working with stone. The reality is that like you, I love seeing the stonewalls of Massachusetts and New England. Having set out to discover the world, I was living first in Washington, DC working as an economist, and then in Dubai working in real estate. On a trip back to Massachusetts, I discovered sawn-open fieldstones and I was shocked at how colorful the geology looked. My whole life, I had only seen the outside of the local rocks, not realizing that intricate beauty was lying just beneath the rough exterior! I wanted to share this experience with others, promote the history of New England, and do it in a sustainable way that would leave walls intact and help support local farms in the process. I founded American Stonecraft LLC in 2012, and in 2016 we incorporated in Massachusetts as a Benefit Corporation.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CRAFT
No two are alike, each a work of art and a slice of nature. Live edges, organic shapes; just as the glaciers left them. Our team of artisans (guys and girls alike) use custom-made diamond hand tools to slice, sculpt, hone and polish our farm gathered fieldstones, revealing more of their natural beauty. Local stones, hand gathered and handcrafted in small batches; even paying tribute to their farmer.
Browse Our ShopFOOD SLABS
Cheese boards, brunch platters, a surface for a hot dish out of the oven, the menu is long.
FOOD SLABS
Cheese boards, brunch platters, a surface for a hot dish out of the oven, the menu is long.
We handcraft each item at our Studio and Workshop in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Why do we love Lowell?
