Homeowners and cottagers in Muskoka gravitate towards Canadian granite to pay tribute to the startling beauty of the region that surrounds them.
From floor-to-ceiling windows to the artwork on the walls to the colours and textures at play in their décor, homeowners and cottagers in Muskoka usually find one way or another to pay tribute to the startling beauty of the region that surrounds them. This is one reason among many for the consistent popularity of Muskoka granite in applications ranging from veneer and interior flooring to stair treads, flagstone, countertops, and beyond.
For Seth Rudin, president of Muskoka Rock Company, the aesthetics and iconic aspect of Muskoka granite are just the beginning of what makes it a superior option, indoors and out. “Durability and safety are less glamorous concerns than style and beauty, but when it comes down to it, they’re very important factors for most people,” says Rudin. Take a flagstone patio, for example. Of course, you want it to look great, but you also need to be sure you have predictable surface uniformity, stability, and traction, especially where there will be young children and others unsteady on their feet using it. And with Muskoka granite clocking in at somewhere between 800 million and a billion years old, it goes without saying that wear, tear, and upkeep aren’t a concern the way they are for other popular materials, such as wood.
Muskoka granite is also an obvious choice for socially conscious consumers – a demographic that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. According to Rudin, despite the ready availability of different options worldwide, most Muskokans opt to shop local. “It can be difficult to justify either the cost or the environmental impact of shipping heavy materials long distances, especially when you step outdoors and find such a stunning and unique alternative right under your feet,” he says. Buying overseas also comes with uncertainty about labour conditions and fair practices.
By contrast, MRC employs roughly 85 local individuals throughout the Muskoka region, where the company operates a series of proprietary quarries as well as processing and manufacturing facilities in Gravenhurst and Huntsville. Transforming the raw granite into MRC’s range of products is mostly done at the processing facility in Gravenhurst. Here, MRC’s craftspeople use methods from hand-splitting to precision cuts with CNC machines to flame tables—which preserve a rough texture to the stone—in order to meet the various requirements of each piece. And while granite can be found all over the world, Muskoka’s is unique, with certain shades, variations, and colours that simply don’t exist elsewhere. For that reason, while the majority of their clientele are in Muskoka and the GTA, MRC does have customers all over North America.
Countertops, patios, and fireplaces might be the first to come to mind, but recent years have seen an explosion in granite applications, with interior flooring, windowsills, wall treatments, shelving, and smaller décor items becoming more common. Aside from its iconic aspect, granite brings an earthy texture and a note of solidity that can anchor a room or perfectly counterpoint vibrant and whimsical design elements. Using cutting-edge technology, MRC is able to make precision custom cuts, which, along with high-quality finishes and inline polishing, greatly expand the creative possibilities for its use.
Advances in production technology have made customization, and the expectation that certain products be one of a kind, almost the norm. In this, granite has a built-in advantage, because while it is as a whole distinct and distinguished from other materials, there are also endless variations between individual pieces. MRC’s different quarries produce different colours, ranging from salmon pink hues to milky white to dark grey. Add on to that the contrasting, winding “veins” of crystallized mineral that adorn each cut piece of granite, and you have a product that is as unique to its owner as their own fingerprint.
Forged during the Precambrian era, Muskoka’s granite is part of the Grenville Orogeny, a mountain range that once spanned from Labrador to Mexico. Possibly the highest mountain range ever to exist on Earth, what remains of it now forms the bedrock of Muskoka, at the southern edge of the Canadian Shield. Stretching from the Severn River to Lake Nipissing, and from Georgian Bay to the Ottawa River, Muskoka granite is fundamental to the region’s stark, prepossessing beauty, and an important element in what makes the area so special and distinct from the rest of Ontario.
According to Rudin, that regionality is what gives Muskoka granite its edge. “People come here to make great memories,” he says. “Many have some of the happiest days of their lives here. So, it just makes sense that they are drawn to, and treasure, the natural elements that have been a backdrop to those days.”
muskokarockcompany.com
