Boothbay Harbor-based Norton Stone & Tile, Joe Norton’s business of building walls of stone and tile in artistic patterns, has proven profitable for more than a decade, the Boothbay Register reported.
Norton told the paper that much of his work is practical — tiling and mosaics, stone walls, walkways, stone or granite steps, sea walls and patios — but his completed projects around Boothbay Harbor and other places in Maine incorporate artistic designs.
Norton’s business builds on trends seen overall in the natural stone industry, which is enjoying rising popularity fueled by increasing interest in sustainable building practices and LEED certification, according to Jane Bennett. Bennett is executive vice president of the Building Stone Institute, a trade association of craftsmen, designers, architects and retailers of natural stone products based in Chesterville, N.Y.
Norton told the paper that one of his reliefs was recently ‘liked’ on his Facebook page by someone in Morocco.
“Now something like 5,000 people in Morocco have ‘liked’ it,” he said.
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