Sherrod Hawthorne
Owner and master mason
Sherrod lays out every wall himself and sets the first and last courses. He walks each site with the homeowner before a quote is written.
Natural-stone masonry, Santa Fe
Walls, patios and steps, set stone by stone
Hawthorne Stone Masons builds dry-stack and mortared stonework for homes in and around Santa Fe. Five masons, one crew, from choosing the stone to the last joint.
The crew
Five masons set every stone
There is no sub-crew and no one who shows up only to haul. The people who quote the job are the people who build it.
Ramona Etsitty
Lead mason, flagstone and courtyards
Ramona lays stones on the ground first and moves them until the joints read right. She runs the patio and path crews.
Evaristo Calderon
Mason, walls and gate piers
Evaristo cuts and fits by hand, and builds piers and walls that match old work. He speaks Spanish.
Leonel Salinas
Mason, veneer and repair
Leonel repoints failed joints and rebuilds the stretches that settled. He speaks Spanish.
Graciela Navarro
Mason and estimator
Graciela measures sites, orders from the yards and writes the quotes. She speaks Spanish.
The stone library
Pick the stone, and we will show you where it came from
Eight stones we set most often, by type and by origin. Each comes from a yard we can name, and each asks something different of the footing, the joints and the weather.
Arizona and ColoradoFlagstone
Flat sandstone and quartzite slabs, cut thick enough to take a footstep and a dinner table.
Patios, courtyards and stepping paths
Buff, rust and grey-violet
Northern New MexicoRust sandstone
Iron-stained rubble that takes on the color of the hills around town. It is the stone people mean by Santa Fe style.
Mortared walls, piers and veneer
Orange, tan and grey
Colorado Front RangeGranite
Hard, even and slow to wear. We cut it to blocks for walls that have to stay square.
Retaining walls and steps
Grey with brown and rose flecks
Central TexasLimestone
Pale and easy to work. It weathers softly and takes a carved edge, so we use it where hands will touch it.
Caps, sills, benches and wall faces
Cream and pale gold
Pennsylvania and VermontSlate
Layered, dark and slightly blue when wet. It splits into thin plates that stack tight without mortar.
Dry-stack walls and steps
Charcoal with blue and rust
Volcanic flows near Santa FeBasalt
Dark, dense and local. Rough faces hold shadow, which makes it a good partner for pale mortar.
Gate piers, foundations and planters
Charcoal and black
New Mexico ranchlandFieldstone
Rounded stones gathered from fields and arroyo banks. No two match, so a wall takes patience.
Garden walls and boundary walls
Green-grey and tan
Rio Grande gravelRiver cobble
Smooth stones in rose, grey and brown. We set them in mortar for columns, borders and wall faces.
Borders, columns and wall faces
Rose, grey and brown
Recent work
Courtyards, steps and walls
A few sample projects, to show the kind of work the crew does.
Sample photos.
How a job runs
From the first visit to the last joint
Five steps, in the same order on every job, whether it is a short garden wall or a whole courtyard.
- 01
Step 1: We walk the site
Sherrod or Graciela measures, checks drainage and access, and looks at what the footing will sit on.
- 02
Step 2: You choose the stone
We bring samples to you or take you to the yard, and lay stones out on the ground before anything is ordered.
- 03
Step 3: You get a written quote
Scope, stone list, how we reach the site, a start window, clean-up, and who will be on site.
- 04
Step 4: We build from the footing up
Base and drainage first, then stone one course at a time, checked against a string line and a level.
- 05
Step 5: We walk it with you
We go over the finished work together, show you how to look after it, and take the leftover stone away or leave it for repairs.
What homeowners say
“Ramona laid the courtyard stones out on the ground and let us move them around. The patio drains away from the door now, and the puddle is gone.”
Cory H.Flagstone courtyard
“Sherrod showed us the gravel and drain pipe behind the retaining wall before the last course went on. It stood through the monsoon without a crack.”
Virginia E.Retaining wall
“Evaristo cut each piece for our gate piers by hand. The new stone sits next to the old and you have to look for the seam.”
Ulises Z.Gate pier repair
Sample reviews.
Around Santa Fe
Santa Fe and the towns around it
A crew that works from one yard on Siler Road, so the stone arrives the same day it is loaded.
Santa Fe County
- Santa Fe
- Agua Fria
- La Cienega
- Eldorado at Santa Fe
- Tesuque
- Nambe
- Pojoaque
- Cerrillos
- Madrid
- Galisteo
- Glorieta
- Edgewood
San Miguel County
- Pecos
Los Alamos County
- Los Alamos
We do not take work in Albuquerque or Taos, or south of Edgewood.
Before you call
The questions we hear first. More are on the questions page.
What decides the cost of a stone job?
Stone type, how tall and how long the work is, how hard the site is to reach, what the ground needs underneath, and how far the stone travels to get to you. We put each of those in a written quote after the site visit. We do not give figures over the phone.
How does payment work?
A deposit holds the stone order and the start window, then payments follow the stages of the job, and the last one is due at the walk-through. The quote lists the amounts and the methods we take.
What happens at the site visit?
Someone from the crew walks the site with you, measures, checks drainage and access, and asks how you use the space. The written quote follows by email once we have priced the stone.
What about rain, snow or freezing nights?
Mortar does not cure well in a hard freeze, so mortared work waits for milder weather. Dry-stack and flagstone work can go on through most of the winter if the ground is not frozen. In July through September we watch the sky and drainage closely.
Is the work under warranty?
We repair settling, loose stones and failed joints that come from our workmanship for one year after the walk-through, at no charge for labor or stone. It does not cover damage from flooding, a vehicle, a tree, changes to the ground made after we leave, or stone you supplied. The full terms are written into every quote.
Tell us about the site
Send a few lines and a photo if you can. We will call to set a time to walk the site.