Richard Hestekind
Stone
Bardessono developer Phil Sherburne first came to know Richard Hestekind in the form of a fountain. The fountain, sculpted by Richard and brought to a stone yard of Marenakos Rock Center in Phil’s hometown of Seattle Washington, was part of Stonefest 2006 -- an annual event featuring art and sponsoring workshops by the worlds’ top sculptors. The fountain, the stone, and the two men met and made a serendipitous connection that in no time became a part of the Bardessono vision.
Richard is a large and gentle man with a sunny smile and good-sized rough hands. He has spent his life shaping stone. For the Bardessono, Richard and Phil walked through the stone yard together. They made careful selections and Richard provided an exciting and lasting education for Phil on the huge pieces of rock that would become today’s signature courtyard fountains for each of the hotel’s four guest room clusters. Today’s finished fountains are large in scale -- one incorporates three olive stone grinding wheels, each almost five feet in diameter. Richard’s contribution and the significant presence of earth’s most dense and natural material around the hotel are what has helped to ground it.
