Take the Tour!----- 1. Project Overview 2. Builder 3. Neighborhood 4. Friends 5. Head Decorator----- ROOMS 6. Sherilyn's Room 7. Bonus Room 8. Teenage Bedroom Suite 9. Guest Suite 10. Master Suite 11. Dining Room 12. Home Theatre 13. Kitchen (Cabinets) 14. Kitchen (Appliances) 15. Kitchen (Countertop) 16. Family Room----- FEATURES 17. Details 18. Water System 19. Tile 20. Elevator 21. Staircase 22. Building Materials 23. Roof 24. Concrete Masonry 25. Concrete Countertops 26. Landscape & Hardscape 27. Pool

NHI DREAM HOME | KITCHEN COUNTERTOP



BY DENISE SHERMAN/PHOTO BY RAY STRAWBRIDGE
WINTER 2005 ISSUE

Mel Neale of WorldGranite & StoneArt sent head decorator Pat Cashman to his supplier Marble Point to find granite for the countertops in the kitchen. What she found was an incredible selection of stone.

“It was like walking into a Disney World of granite or a museum,” said Cashman. “I must have looked at hundreds of granites.”

But when she saw Lady’s Dream—a mottled terra-cotta, black and gray stone—she knew she had her countertop. Its earth tones echo the Mediterranean design of the kitchen, blending in beautifully with the mushroom-toned cabinets, accented in black.

“It’s fireproof, it’s beautiful and it’s very hard to steal,” teased Neale, fabricator and owner of WorldGranite & StoneArt of Raleigh. “I always kid people with all our kitchens we give free fire and theft insurance. That slab that you saw there weighs about 1,000 pounds."

Neale has owned WorldGranite & StoneArt five years, but has been in the stone business all his life. He started out as a stonemason with his grandfather and has owned various businesses through the years, one of them a building firm. Neale, the granite man, is versatile. He retired from the Chicago mercantile exchange after 15 years as a trader, a sideline that became a job, moved to North Carolina and opened his stone business.

Lady’s Dream covers the L-shaped countertops, the tiered breakfast bar and the island in the middle of the kitchen.

Granite comes from deep inside mountains and can withstand temperatures of 5,000 degrees. So it can easily withstand cooking and baking temperatures. You can sit pots and pans on top of the counter because of its durability and strength—perfect for taking something out of the oven and keeping it warm. The granite holds the heat, thus keeping food warmer longer. The counter is also serviceable as a cutting board and for rolling out dough.

When asked about her countertop choice, Cashman explains she could not of been happier with it. “I fell in love with it,” she recalled. “Lady’s Dream captured the look and feel of the home, warm and inviting.” ▪

DENISE SHERMAN IS A FREELANCE WRITER FROM RALEIGH.

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