John Cortese Masons, Inc. uses stone from mostly local stone quarries, or harvests the stone locally by hand. These practices not only ensure that our stonework blends naturally with the landscape, but they also allow us to supply beautiful, local stones with lower fuel costs and thus a smaller carbon footprint. Stone masonry is among the oldest and longest lasting traditional building techniques and is a great choice for the environmentally conscious. The physical properties of stone make it an appealing choice from an ecological standpoint.