Eldorado Stone has three reasons for impersonating an upcycled material: longevity, ease of installation, and hassle-free upkeep.
As a more than 45-year manufacturer of believable stone and brick veneers, the company tricks the eye while saving homeowners time and headaches. The new Vintage Ranch collection, though made of concrete, captures the character and warmth of classic American barn wood — with a few major differences.
“Wood will bow on you and curve over time. Ours won’t change or fade, it requires no maintenance, and it has a 50-year warranty,” says Ramsay Hawfield, vice president of marketing and product development of the San Diego area–based company. “It’s concrete. So once it’s up, it’s up. It will stay the same shape and size, and you’re not going to have to paint it in a year.” Installation is smooth because your professional is working with a consistent material. Real wood can be a wild card, with curves and undulation that add labor on the job site.
The lightweight panels of varying length and depth are suitable for both interior and exterior walls. (For the bath, humidity and water will never be an issue.) Durable doppelgangers of reclaimed oak, Douglas fir, and pine planks are designed not to match up perfectly, producing organic dimension and shadow.
“Vintage Ranch reflects the rich heritage of craftsmanship found in America’s iconic barns, whose planks defined those structures and endured Mother Nature for decades, and sometimes centuries,” says Hawfield. To maintain an authentic interpretation, panels are cast from lifelike molds. “We bought real barn wood and created molds off that aged wood. The energy and effort it took to make it look like it does was monumental.”
In line with Eldorado Stone’s other collections, each plank is hand-painted to mimic the patina of vintage boards. “Our artisans are guys and gals with paintbrushes who hand-paint each mold down a production line,” Hawfield explains. “Other companies have gone to automation, and you can see it. Each of our planks is unique and different; the hand brush is doing something different each time.
Foxwood, part of Eldorado Stone’s new Vintage Ranch collection, combines durable concrete with the trending look of reclaimed barn wood.
Moonlight from the RoughCut stone collection.
Vintage Ranch veneers come in four realistic finishes with color tones and rustic textures that embody the ambiance of old wood. For a modern look, choose clean, whitewashed Doverwood. Create a roadside Americana accent wall using multicolored Saddlewood, which appears worn away by the years.
Skeptics can order samples from the website before they’re convinced it looks and even feels like real wood. “People walk up to it and ask, ‘Is this real wood?’ ” Hawfield says. “That’s always a compliment.” And they can touch it all day long. No one ever got a splinter from concrete.