Bluestone is the stone of the Mid-Atlantic estate. It’s a dense sandstone quarried in northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New York, and it has paved porches, terraces and sidewalks in this region for well over a century. When clients ask what to put down, the first decision is almost always the same: Blue Select, or full-range.
Blue Select: the tailored choice.
Blue Select is a sorted grade — stone selected for a consistent blue-gray. Laid out, it reads calm, uniform, almost architectural. It’s the natural partner for formal houses, crisp brick, painted trim and modern lines, and it’s what we reach for when a terrace should feel like an extension of the rooms inside.
Full-range: the natural choice.
Full-range — also called full-color — keeps everything the quarry gives: blues, lilacs, rusts, browns and greens, sometimes in a single stone. It reads warmer and older, as if it has always been there. It’s beautiful against fieldstone, weathered brick and wooded lots, and it hides leaf litter and everyday wear better than a uniform field.
The finish matters as much as the color.
- Natural cleft — the stone’s split face, with a gentle undulation. Classic and slightly rustic, and beautiful in low, raking light.
- Thermal — the surface is flamed with intense heat, leaving an even, finely textured face. The choice for pool decks, steps and entries, where a consistent surface underfoot matters.
- Pattern or irregular — cut, dimensional stone laid in a pattern reads formal; irregular flagstone, cut to fit, reads relaxed.
Three honest questions.
- What does the house say? The stone should belong to the architecture and to the materials already on site.
- Bare feet or shoes? Around water and on steps, choose a thermal finish. And know that bluestone warms in full July sun — worth considering for a south-facing pool deck.
- Formal or relaxed? Blue Select reads tailored. Full-range reads natural.
You don’t have to choose just one. Some of the best terraces pair Blue Select treads and caps with a full-range field — or the reverse.
Screens shift blue and gray. Never choose stone from a photograph.
That’s why Edgar brings samples to the site walk — so you see the stone against your own house, in your own light, before anything is ordered.
