There are those who aim high, and there are those who aim higher. For nearly three decades, Apex Marble has been the mile-stone by which stone craftsmanship is measured.

Conceived in 1982 by a delightfully-quirky and bare-domed gentle-man known simply to his friends and clients as Randy, the foundation that would later ascend to become Apex Marble began humbly as a single endeavor that is the cornerstone of Randy's passion. "The catalyst that ignited my flame," Randy shared, "was seeing the joy it brought my mother when I replaced her old water-damaged Formica counter top with a new one made of ceramic tile from Italy."

For those suffering the drab dreariness of a passe linoleum floor, a weary plastic shower, or a voraciously chipped and dipped counter top, the remedy, if you value living well, is an intoxicatingly heavy dose of Randy's marble solution which he pre-scribes himself one square at a time.

If you think a little marble in your life won't improve the quality of the life you live, think again. The Los Angeles Times ran the story, "Marble of Ingenuity," which compared Randy's masterfully-crafted black and white marble swimming pool to the famed Neptune pool at the late newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst's monumental estate, La Cuesta Encantada, on the central coast at San Simeon. "The concealed meaning of La Cuesta Encantada or The Enchanted Quest," Randy disclosed, "is quite appropriately, the spell-binding pursuit of happiness." "The charm of marble," Randy adamant-ly stated, "is a powerful motivator that must not be taken lightly or for granite."

From floors to fireplaces, showers to swimming pools, Randy has carved quite a niche for himself transforming the prosaic facets of a house into the mosaic essence of a home.

At his marble poolside, I asked Randy what is the significance of the apex. Leaning forward, Randy imparted the most profound insight to the purpose of his craft. "The apex or key stone of a master mason," he illuminated, "is signified not by the moving of crude pieces that serve us, but rather by the serving of master pieces that move us." "Poise," Randy emphatically stated while pointing to a bird flying overhead, "is the key to staying aloft, and the sign-ificance of the apex.

Randy's ability to "move" our emotions and "lift" our spirits through his work is evident--a promise which, like the stone masons before him, he most assuredly engraves in stone.


Randy R. Branson Master Craftsman