Welcome to The Stone Trust

Established in southern Vermont in 2010, The Stone Trust’s mission is to preserve and advance the art and craft of dry stone walling. We do this through an expanding program of educational events and outreach projects. The Stone Trust is a multifaceted resource engaged in preserving the natural use of plentiful stone in simple, gratifying ways.

The Stone Trust Center is the only facility in North America that provides year round educational and DSWA certification opportunities for all levels and abilities. The Stone Trust is a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization. It relies on contributions from people like you to keep its programs going. Help us continue to preserve and advance the art and craft of Dry Stone Walling!

Quick Links

• Looking for hands-on training to build dry stone walls? Click Upcoming Workshops
• Want to become a Certified Dry Stone Waller? Click Upcoming Certifications
• Looking for a contractor to build a wall? Click Certified Wallers
• Want to read up on the basics of dry stone walling? Click How to Build Walls
• Looking for amazing photos of dry stone walls and features? Click Photo Gallery
• Are you an Architect, Landscape Architect, Engineer or Designer looking for specifications for dry stone walls? Click Design Information

Support The Stone Trust

Your support makes our work possible. Please consider helping us preserve and advance the craft of dry stone walling by making a donation today. Thank you.

Dry Stone Walling Association of Australia Shares Their News!

Posted November 13, 2020
Bruce Munday, editor of The Flagstone, newsletter of the Dry Stone Wall Association of Australia, sends their September 2020 issue for us to share with you. It's an impressive tome! "Something for everyone," writes DSWAA President Laurie Atkins. Indeed! Here you can read about the varied stone constructions of 'the Dowie Boys' at Wallunga, the [...]


2021 Workshops Open for Registration

Posted November 13, 2020
The Stone Trust is pleased to open our 2021 workshops for registration. We are grateful to all of you who registered for and attended 2020 classes, and also to those of you who registered but were unable to attend. To transfer tuition from a 2020 workshop, please contact info@thestonetrust.org. In previous years, early and late […]



Don’t Miss Our Annual 2020 Member Newsletter!

Posted November 13, 2020
Just out, The Stone Trust's Autumn 2020 newsletter depicts the work of our professional members through stories and photos. We publish the newsletter as a member benefit. Here's what members are reading about: Bryce Hollingsworth connects to British tradition, as a he recounts what he learned while walling in Ireland with Fergus Packman. Joe Dinwiddie [...]


The 2020 Workshop Season Comes to a Close

Posted October 30, 2020
As you may recall, our workshop season came to a halt in the middle of March. With the patient goodwill of our supporters, we were able to start teaching again in July. Director of Education and Training, Brian Post, thought through how to revise our teaching infrastructure and curriculum to accommodate social distance. Instructors volunteered [...]


Meet Paul Peterson, Board Member

Posted October 29, 2020
In January, Paul generously offered to interview the twelve members of The Stone Trust board. He offers this profile of himself. Many thanks, Paul, for helping us understand the skills, experience, and commitments you and others bring to your work on the board! Paul joined the board of the Stone Trust in January 2020. His [...]


Master Class: Hearting

Posted October 22, 2020
The first principle with hearting is that you should aim to use one stone per gap/void. This is of course not always practical! This does not mean you shouldn’t aim for it and so if you can’t use one stone then use as few as possible. This in turn means if you have a big hole, use a big stone first, or if you are filling a gap on the inside edges of two face stones find a stone the right shape to fit. The fewer the pieces of hearting the fewer the potential moving parts during settlement.



Flagging/Patio Workshops: October 17 & 18, 2020

Posted October 22, 2020
“Stone walls have been in my life since I was a child,” one of the participants in the Flagging workshop reported. Like many of the weekend’s participants, she brought extensive professional experience of designing and building with stone. Fundamentals of Flagging ranks among the advanced classes in our Curriculum in Dry Stone. The class included [...]


Intro to Stone Shaping: October 16, 2020

Posted October 22, 2020
In anticipation of heavy rain, instructors Brian Post and Seth Harris set up tents for the Stone Shaping workshop. The morning got off to a good start, with experienced and enthusiastic students all of whom were here to learn what one woman described as “how to take the nubs off rocks that don’t make them [...]


Contractors’ Intro to Walling: October 16, 2020

Posted October 22, 2020
The rain held off for the first several hours of the last Contractors Intro of 2020. Most of the seven students were able to lay the foundations and build through the first lift before the deluge struck. They completed the second—and in some cases third—lifts in the driving rain. Even though each waller built his [...]


October Waller of the Month: Joe Dinwiddie

Posted October 21, 2020
JOE DINWIDDIE (New Mexico) Since 1997, Joe has built, restored, and designed drystone masonry landscape installations throughout the United States and in Scotland. Joe is dedicated to teaching, leading hands-on workshops as well as presentations for all ages.