Creating dynamic balance with vibrant granite colors, the future of memorial design

A master reveals his secrets

Mark Barthelemy has a chair in his office but rarely uses it. He stands most of the day in his office furiously drawing designs on a draftsman's table. He works from scribbled sketches drawn on pieces of paper (anything he can find when the idea comes to him). In broad strokes he outlines all types of private mausoleums, from grand structures the size of homes surrounded by statues, balustrades, walkways and gardens, to smaller telephone booth-sized vestibule mausoleums. There is a common thread that resonates in each Barthelemy mausoleum: a combination of warm and cold; soft and hard; and light and dark granite colors that are enhanced by polished finishes, sandblasting and variegated granite patterns. All the colors blend naturally and are pleasant to the eye - a subtle effect that the passerby takes for granted but granite designers like Barthelemy say is the secret to creating the most beautiful memorials in the industry.

The colors associated with granite memorials and mausoleums in the past have been traditional (dark) or conservative (gray). Barthelemy uses vibrant granite colors, such as Azalea, Lake Superior Green, Sunset Beige, Sunset Red, Kenoran Sage and Diamond Pink. The use of vigorous granite colors is a major trend in the industry today. Families are demanding livelier memorial colors, including exotic imported granites from India with names like Bahama Blue, Tropical Green, New Imperial Red or Ocean Green. Developing a memorial with one of these colors doesn't automatically mean one is making great use of color. Combining granites with their variegated patterns and rich polished and sandblasted colors into a cohesive whole that reflects movement is what gifted granite colorists like Barthelemy do.

A fourth generation memorial designer, Barthelemy is the design director of the Cold Spring Granite Company's Private Estates Group. When people say Cold Spring Granite designs the most private estates in North America, they are referring to Barthelemy's prodigious output of innovative classical designs that are modified with contemporary features. He designs as many as three private estates a day and estimates he has completed more than 1,500 Private Estates designs over the past nine years that he has been with the Private Estates Group. Barthelemy's talent for combining granite colors shines in larger structures that allow him to use colors on a grander scale.

One of Barthelemy's favorites is the Budrick private estate, a neoclassical design with French Palladian windows; the light red color theme and flat ceiling are also styled after a Spanish mission. The structure achieves what Barthelemy calls a dynamic balance, or "having a whole of one color and just the right amount of another color." Three color accents are created from polished granites: Sunset Red used in most of the structure; the black columns; and the band of Rainbow on the façade. Another Barthelemy technique is to make small parts of the structure stand out with a hard color that matches a soft color covering most of the structure. The black columns in the Budrick purposefully play off the black flecks in the Sunset Red to accentuate the red in the Sunset Red. Barthelemy used Rainbow in the façade to prevent the structure from being overpowered by one color.

Barthelemy learned his colors from his father, Rollie, whose stonecutter grandfather immigrated to the United States at the turn of the 20th century. Rollie's talent is natural. Largely self-taught, he started drafting designs for his family's memorial company when he was in high school. Barthelemy's inspiration for the Budrick design was Rollie's landmark Nottolini mausoleum, an early American classic structure. The Nottolini mausoleum was built 32 years ago but still looks refreshingly contemporary. Widely spaced sandblasted Rainbow columns feature walls of richly veined polished Rainbow streaking upward, an effect that is enhanced by the light columns that make the walls look like they are set deeper. This is the upward movement that Barthelemy often creates in his own works, illustrating how granite colors and their variegated patterns can be used like brushstrokes on a canvas to create push-pull movements.

The Barthelemy bench design uses the same approach. As benches become more popular, Barthelemy took a design leap and created a bench that doubled as a private mausoleum. The structural design is enhanced by the color combination that Barthelemy chose: Lake Superior Green for the crypt and side walls and Rainbow for the steps. Copper scrollwork flanks the steps. Although green and red are at opposite ends of the color spectrum, Barthelemy points out that the black veining in the red Rainbow complements the black flecks in the Lake Superior Green. "The black veining of the Rainbow and the black flecks in the Lake Superior Green bring out the light green and red colors," Barthelemy explains. "The steps in the photo really stand out, but if you go and see the bench, the Rainbow is far more subtle and complementary."

A symmetrical two-tone color theme is at the heart of the Goodman mausoleum that Barthelemy also developed. The classic design is also influenced by an art nouveau style. The body of the structure is clad in polished Rockville Beige, which has the iridescent character of alabaster or mother-of-pearl that explodes in sunlight. Most of the triangular pediment, entablature (horizontal part that rests on columns), and the columns are darker Carnelian that bring out the beige in the Rockville. Barthelemy chose Carnelian for the columns because the fine grain of the granite "makes it easier to see the round of the columns. If the grains are too large, it becomes too noisy and a blur." The large pathway, flanked by benches, is sandblasted Rockville Beige bordered with Carnelian. The strong colors of the Rockville Beige are lightened by sandblasting, which makes the main polished structure stand out.

By choosing the right combination of colors and further complementing them by polishing or sandblasting, Barthelemy can increase the depth and character of a memorial or mausoleum. By positioning variegated granites, he can make colors recede or push forward or upward. By utilizing finer-grained granites, he can enhance the distinction of certain parts of the structure. By combining soft or warm and hard or cold colors, he can create the dynamic balance that he achieves in every structure. "To coordinate colors in stone, you have to be a true colorist like a painter working with colors on a canvas," says Barthelemy. "There's so much you can teach, much that can be learned, and a lot that comes with natural artistic talent."

Who says vibrant has to be light or bright? Brown can be brilliant.

A veteran memorial designer's favorite designs are rich in color and brown. Joseph Miller's top designs incorporate Autumn Brown granite, which exudes warmth and depth that is magnified by wild variegated patterns that are a treat to the eyes. Miller is chief designer of Royal Melrose Granites, Cold Spring Granite's monument company. He has been designing Royal Melrose Granites' most innovative memorials for the past 20 years.

Miller's all-time favorite, Titus, is a book-matched memorial in which two slabs from the same piece of Autumn Brown granite represent man and wife. The polished granite reflects intense variegated patterns that look like cosmic swirls or dust seen in photographs taken by the Hubble Telescope. "There's so much content going on here, a multiplicity of colors with rich variegations amplified by the finish," says Miller. "If you look close and long enough at the memorial, however, the overall effect is a sense of harmony and calm that is appropriate for restful contemplation." The Autumn Brown is further brought out by the sandblasted stepbacks that create upward movement.

Another favorite of Miller's is the Norris, also a book-matched memorial featuring Autumn Brown. The two slabs, representing a couple, are joined by a plinth carved with inset bronze symbols for peace and eternity. The polished bull-noses on the inside edges cast "playful and fun" reflections achieved with the warm-colored Autumn Brown. The sandblasted bottom arcs reveal a lighter shade of the same stone and its variegated patterns. The contrast provided by different color tones, contours, finishes and matched variegated granite patterns creates an "intensity" that Miller describes as "amiable and fun."

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The Cold Spring Granite Co. is a leading manufacturer, designer and distributor of granite and bronze products. The Cold Spring Granite Memorial Group offers the broadest line of memorial products, including upright monuments, flat markers, cast bronze and granite bases, urns, columbariums, community and family mausoleums, benches, and specialty cemetery features.

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