Mar a Lago Ballroom Floor

Welcome to our first issue of the arc stone blog: ON THE ROCKS. Articles, posts, snippets, photos, etc posted here are intended to provide insight, background, knowledge, and points of interest as they pertain to natural stone, tile, porcelain, quartz and other hard surfaces.

So what better way to kick off our blog than with a project location you might have seen recently in various news sources……..

Mar a Lago: Ballroom Floor summer 2004

Anyone who is familiar with Mr Trump’s marquee properties, that is the real estate he owns and operates himself, have probably seen a pink, peach colored marble in some or all of the main common areas and bathrooms at a minimum.

My understanding is that Ivana Trump was the one that chose this marble in Italy long ago. Why I never asked Mr. Trump directly, is a mystery to me. I’m certain he wouldn’t mind or might even enjoy telling the story.

This marble comes from Brescia, Italy. Which is about an hour west of Verona on the western side of Lago di Garda. It’s known to us as Breccia Damascata. Also called Breccia Onciata or classic peach. Breccia is a composite stone that is composed of several minerals bonded together.

The Breccia Damascata was his choice for the new ballroom that he had just built on the premises back in 2004. Of course, no ordinary format would suffice. 4’x4′ panels were specified for this project, which are basically small slabs. Not easy to handle or install, but the effect is to minimize the number of joints and provide an expansive look. Which you can decide for yourself in the photos whether or not this has been achieved. It was one of our greater undertakings at the time. We spent a great deal of time reviewing photos of each of the blocks before hand (this is pre iphone days…) and reviewing individual pieces in the crates as the containers came in. Needless to say Mr. Trump’s team were involved in the details and carefully checking individual pieces and the overall color range, and working closely with the installation crew to put it all together.

We have supplied the Trump Organization with this marble for some of his other projects in and out of Florida as well, including their winery in Charlottesville, VA and the new Washington DC hotel to name a few. However, Mar a Lago, the size, scope and grandeur, as well as it being here at home, make it one of our foremost projects, and one that we are very proud of.