The first time that David and Susan Scott presented designs for our house they brought along material samples - one of which was a slab of pale grey-blue unpolished Tllupana marble. We learned that it had been quarried up island. The Scotts are connoisseurs of that which is produced on Vancouver Island. They have used Tlupana marble on other projects (as in a massive handsome kitchen counter we admired (check it out on Pinterest). They encouraged us to take a drive to Duncan to Matrix Marble to see the operation. Ivo Zanatta is the major domo. he comes from a family of an Italian family of stone experts.
Vancouver island marble turns up in our house, you’ll see it when we get to the finishings stage. We scrimped to be able to use Tlupana on a few surfaces. We bought all our kitchen appliances on used Vic second hand for $1700. We sourced the base cabinets from Michael Ford after first thinking we could get away with Ikea stainless ones. The results are going to be beautiful. Michael is at work on shop drawings this month (August 2020)
What follows is gleaned from Vancouver Island Marble/ Matrix materials both printed and online.
“Vancouver Island Marble Quarries are quarriers of Canadian marbles and operated by the same owners of Matrix Marble & Stone in Duncan on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. These unique Black, White and Grey marbles were known to the First Nations of Canada - among them the Nootka, the Coast Salish and the Kwak’wala-speaking people. The marble was also later used by the early settlers in BC primarily for grave markers. Vancouver Island Marble Quarries are a significant source of fine white, grey and black marble in Western North America.
Vancouver Island Marble is Unique
It is from a continent that formed far away from North America. Three hundred million years ago a continent formed below the Equator known as "Wrangalia" that over time, with the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates, crunched into North America.
Over the last 90 million years, it folded under the continental plate and the last vestiges remain in the Wrangle Mountains in Alaska and the two big islands off the coast of British Columbia, Haida Gwaii (aka.Queen Charlotte Islands) and Vancouver Island where we quarry today in two separate locations.
In 1778 on the farthest west coast, Captain James Cook first sailed into Nootka Sound, a fjord which fills a dramatic geological fault line. There at Nootka Island, he met Don Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra and a dispute erupted between the English and the Spanish over sovereignty of this territory. In 1793 Captain George Vancouver and Captain Quadra met at Tahsis at the head of Nootka Sound, and signed a treaty which would lead to the British possession of this part of the New World.
Hidden within the unique rock formations upon which they stood was marble - believed to be the only white marble quarried in Canada.
Champagne Taste on a Peanut Butter Budget
Truth be known, we developed a taste for marble early on.
Don and I eloped in my senior year at Yale. Upon graduation we took off for Belgium. Possessing but a few suitcases full of clothes and books, we scouted cheap apartments. In Brussels circa 1979 the Common Market was just getting rolling. Furnished flats for foreigners abounded. In a neighborhood called Ixelles just a stone’s throw from The Victor Horta house & atelier, we found a sumptuous parlor floor studio in a subdivided maison de maitre. In the corner of our coffered-ceilinged living room was a curving stair to a dressing room of built in armoires of exotic veneer bevelled mirrors and gilt fittings . A low ceilinged galley kitchen led to the bath whose floors walls and ceiling were all of Cararra marble. Never before or since have we bathed in such splendor.
In the realm of architecture -my professor, Vincent Scully was a powerful influence. So too was the experience of living in Brussels - among so many Art Nouveau treasures . For more on Victor Horta read on
Here are several ways to save big on you kitchen renovation
The people we bought our appliances from were renovating a house they’d bought a few years back. All the appliances were in great shape, energy efficient (read induction stove) and 80% less than we would have paid if we bought new. The fact that they were stainless steel inspired the architect to save even more by trading out fancy custom built cabinets for stripped down ones made by Michael Ford for us on a shoestring budget. As an appliance bites the dust we’ll buy a replacement but the entire cost (cabinets, appliances, cabinets and counters looks will perform well and cost a fraction of most customers kitchens.
Here’s the math - average savings 80%
Appliances (induction stove, wall oven, dishwasher, refrigerator all Bosch &/or Kitchen Aid) $1700
Base Cabinets $16,000
Sink (architect sourced stainless) $300
Faucet (sale Victoria Specialty Hardware) $500
Marble counters & backsplash (Matrix) $7000
Total $23,800
Material from the island and/or used - All but the sink and faucet or 98%