Patch Blog: The Money Pit's River Rock

River rock was used all over Sierra Madre a century ago as building material for foundations, walls, fences and chimneys. Debris from the canyons and river beds resulted in stonework engulfing some of the hidden streets in the canyon areas as well as the more visible Pioneer Cemetery and century-old houses like ours. Take a video tour of some of the spectacular stone walls of Sierra Madre.  

Brick was used quite liberally with the stonework, in many cases mixed together like a batch of chocolate chip cookies. We plan to use mostly old brick in landscaping and around the rear of the house. The 20-year-old chimney was built to look period with its mixture of stone and brick. We will keep the stone wall across the frontage line, as the river rock is a signature of Sierra Madre, but the perimeter wall will be brick, and since the stone used on the front porch was not original but was added later, we will remove it from the posts.

Clinker bricks are fascinating, burnt in the firing process and warped into exotic shapes with volcanic-like smooth, charred surfaces. The Gamble House in Pasadena used them extensively and it was here that their value was made popular by the Greene brothers. Homes around Sierra Madre have them as well, especially in chimneys, and you begin to notice them everywhere in pillars and porches once you are aware of them. 

Our structure has an interior vent chimney made of old brick that spans from basement to top floor and we would like to expose it to vent cool air from the basement level to the upper floors, and because it looks cool. It would be located in bathrooms on the main and upper floors.

Any ideas on exterior design would be welcome!