About
David Suntrup - Stonework St. Louis
Stonework in St. Louis,
Farmington, Bonne Terre and the surrounding St. Louis area.
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Natural
stone. There's nothing else you can add to your
property that will create the feeling of harmony with
your surroundings more than stone. With stone
you can invite the timeless feel of wild hills and streams
in to your own backyard.
I love to build with native and local materials
or build with a pile of discarded stone torn down from
some earlier work. It is easy to build "New".
My joy though, is to build and have observers
guessing "Is this fifty or one hundred and fifty
years old?"
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My
love affair with brick and stone started at a very tender
age. I was three years old that Christmas morning when
I excitedly opened what seemed like a massive and very heavy
treasure chest. The heaviest packages were almost always
the best! It was a collection of smooth and beautiful
wooden building blocks . . . all these wonderful shapes and
sizes! I would sit transfixed for hours building and
then BAM . . . I would destroy my creations so that I could
start again.
After
a stint at Meramec Community College (Associate degree in
Human Services) and a couple of years of counseling troubled
teens, an old yearning began to eat at me. I wanted
to get my hands dirty. I met someone who was to become
the most influential person in my life (after dear old Mom
and Dad). His name was Jim Weatherly. He was an
old (seemed at the time) weathered bricklayer who came to
St. Louis from the hills of Tennessee to make his fortune
during the great depression. He was orphaned at the
age of 8 and grew up with his uncle's family on land so poor
and steep that "the cows had two legs shorter than the
others."
Jim
had a wealth of wise old country sayings. If things were going
well it was "We're cluckin' in the hub" or "it's
just like eatin' lettuce, ain't it?" If someone
was hard to get along with, he'd say "He'd complain with
a loaf of bread under each arm!" or, much worse.
After serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II he
apprenticed as a bricklayer during the building boom after
the war. I will be forever grateful to Jim for all that
he taught me about work and life. He taught me to lay
brick and build fireplaces and with an easy, dogged persistence
showed me how much two men could accomplish in just one day.
Two
years later, I started my own little business and have been
working for myself ever since (26 years). With fairness,
integrity and word of mouth advertising I have managed to
stay busy all these years. I believe that once a job
is started, it must be finished before beginning something
else.
About
23 years ago I was rebuilding a stone porch in South St. Louis
when I was approached by a hunched up 76 year old man who
seemed ancient to me at the time. His name was Frank
Kirshl. He walked up, introduced himself and said, "Hi,
I've been watching you boys. I've laid stone for 50
years and can't stand retirement . . . My hands are itching
to pick up a trowel and I think I can show you boys a few
things." Frank's family had been stone masons in
Croatia for many generations. My love affair with stonework
blossomed in that period. Every time I would get a stone
job I would call old Frank and he would come out and help
. . . cussing and bossing the entire time! I still can
and sometimes do lay brick, but stonework became my passion.
So,
I invite you to take a few minutes to study some of the photos
of my work. I would be happy to come and talk to you
about how a patio, path, raised bed, dry creek bed, rock garden,
pond and waterfall, or timeless dry stacked retaining wall
can add natural beauty and harmony to your outdoor space.
Or, if you want to bring the natural and rustic beauty of
stone indoors, I look forward to showing you how stone walls,
floors and fireplaces can add ageless beauty and warmth to
your home.
Update
April 2009 - It is with deep regret I must tell
you that because of my recent hip replacement and
my Doctor's orders, I'm forced to retire from the
work I love. Years of digging have taken
their toll.
On the bright side, I want to introduce you
to my long time apprentice, Justin Johnson. He
is truly gifted and has decided to carry on the
business and the tradition by continuing as
Stonework St. Louis.
The photos on this site are all examples
of work Justin and I did together. Here is my letter of
recommendation which will introduce you all to a fine
young man and talented stonemason.
To Whom It May Concern,
My
name is David Suntrup. I have been a masonry
contractor for over 30 years. I’ve done
a lot of brick work in the past, but have concentrated
primarily on residential stone landscaping for the
past fifteen years. I have probably had well
over a hundred people work for me over the years. There
have been only two of those men in all that time
that had the “gift”. Justin has
that gift and has the toughness and tenacity to be
a stone mason. I have had the
pleasure of working with Justin on several important
projects, most notably the complete stone-scaping
in the front and back yards at Gyo Obata’s
new home in Ladue. His help was invaluable. He
was attentive without being obtrusive and always
willing to go the extra mile. He did whatever
I required to make the job come out well.
I
highly recommend him. Anyone
who reads this letter can feel free to call me at
my home at any time.
Sincerely,
David Suntrup, retired
573-637-2553
I
just want to close by saying the first time I saw
a dry-stack stone wall and stone stairway Justin
had done on his own, I was so proud I was moved to
tears. I will always be available to
him as a mentor and consultant. Finally, I
want to thank all the hundreds of customers who have
put their trust in me these last 30 years - - so
many of you became friends! It's hard to believe
it's over . . . God bless.
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About
Justin Johnson - Stonework St. Louis
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My
first memories of being fascinated with stonework
was when I was a small boy going to grade school. I
remember looking at the Pyramids and Medieval
Castles
in my history books and wondering how much
time and skill did it take to build such long
lasting structures.
As I grew older and became more mobile I started
to notice with great interest the stone work
in parks, on patios, dry stack walls, fireplaces
and even stone houses. When I got a landscaping
job and actually worked on stone paver projects,
I realized that I too was able to be creative
working with stone and knew without a doubt
that I really like stone work.
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In
the summer of 2001, I started working for Susan Thompson
of Susan's Garden Design. One of her projects included
a large stone wall. She knew it was a big project and
realized that I was not quite ready for such a big challenge
so she called her good friend David Suntrup to help. Little
did I know this was going to be the turning point in my life. Over
the next couple of weeks, David would patiently demonstrate
and explain the techniques of masonry to me and we became
fast friends.
For the next few years, David and I continued working together
on projects and he was always sharing his knowledge that
he had learned from working with Jim Weatherly and Frank
Kirshl.
Now at this point in my life, I have the great honor of keeping
our passion for the rocks that we use and the tools we carry
alive for the ones that came before me; Jim Weatherly, Frank
Kirshl and David Suntrup. David Suntrup is not only
my friend, he's the father I never had . . . and more.
©2006-2009
Stonework St. Louis - www.stoneworkstlouis.com all
rights reserved
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