This mid-century home had an original retaining wall build by the craftsmen of the era. They used methods that they were taught, and stone that was local to St. Paul. This Como Park family had realized that time did not treat this wall well, and it needed to be rebuilt with respect to the craftsman and their original vision. The entire backyard was used to tear down and start the rebuilding process. The retaining walls were rebuilt and new usable terraces were constructed. Stone steps where built to replace the failing concrete.

The reclaimed stone was used as well as additional Platteville Limestone brought in to supplement for the decay and loss of original stone. The new methods of construction would be traditional drystone, and a horizontal cope using Fond du Lac Limestone from Wisconsin.

Since no mortar was used, this project was done primarily in the winter. We call it “winter walling,” and do the excavating and foundations in the Fall, but come back to the walling portion when most of the hardscape companies are done working. We started in the Fall, and by Spring this family had a backyard to use right away with no summer time loss to construction.