A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds light and variable..

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds light and variable.

John Cicirello Jr. and his father, John Sr., at Bennington Marble and Granite, a family  operation in North Bennington. Cicirello traces his roots back to Calabria, Italy.

John Cicirello Jr. keeps an eye on a custom cutting at Bennington Marble and Granite, a father and son operation in North Bennington. 

John Cicirello Jr. moves stone at Bennington Marble and Granite in North Bennington. 

Stone slabs for sale at Bennington Marble and Granite in North Bennington. 

“I know it’s a cliche, quality over quantity, but it’s true,” stoneworker John Cicirello Jr. says. “It comes down to the time we spend with our customers and our hands-on experience with people and these products.”

A stonecutting tool at Bennington Marble and Granite.

John Cicirello Jr. and his father, John Sr., at Bennington Marble and Granite, a family  operation in North Bennington. Cicirello traces his roots back to Calabria, Italy.

John Cicirello Jr. keeps an eye on a custom cutting at Bennington Marble and Granite, a father and son operation in North Bennington. 

John Cicirello Jr. moves stone at Bennington Marble and Granite in North Bennington. 

Stone slabs for sale at Bennington Marble and Granite in North Bennington. 

“I know it’s a cliche, quality over quantity, but it’s true,” stoneworker John Cicirello Jr. says. “It comes down to the time we spend with our customers and our hands-on experience with people and these products.”

A stonecutting tool at Bennington Marble and Granite.

BENNINGTON — There’s a small, enduring father-and-son business located on a quiet, gravel road on the outskirts of North Bennington that does things the way Vermont is known for — hands-on from start to finish.

Bennington Marble and Granite has been at the same location for decades, just a duo with no other employees, in an unassuming pole barn next to their home, where they cut, shape, polish and create beautiful kitchen countertops and projects from some of the most stunning, unique, natural and engineered stone in the world. Bennington Marble and Granite imports its stone from nearly every state and country across the globe, from local marble from Vermont to the highest quality Brazilian granite and soapstone, and everywhere in between.

“My father emigrated to the United States in the late '60s when he was about 14,” John Cicirello Jr. says. “They came from Calabria, Italy, one of 13 kids. All the men in his family were in the trades of some sort or the other. Masons, woodworkers, farmers. My dad worked a lot of jobs before we opened this place.”

As a young man, John Cicirello Sr. worked odd jobs down in Connecticut, where the family first landed, as a factory worker at an assembly plant, landscaping, a stone mason for many years, building stone walls and patios, and carrying cement for a “mean, old Italian” immigrant, Pasquale Vento, who was a tough, perfectionist boss, but taught him a lot about working with stone.

“Eighty-years old, but could still kick my ass,” John Sr. says with a wink and a chuckle.

“My father used that on me, too,” John Jr. says, motioning over to his father as he laughs. “So, I guess it worked.”

From there, John Sr. started a successful landscaping business. Then, in 1995, the family relocated to Vermont to be closer to extended family. John Sr., noticing the demand for tilework, decided to take over a vacant wing of an old factory on Sage Street in North Bennington with a pair of business partners, one who specialized in stone and tile.

That building became Green Mountain Marble and Granite. At first, they mainly worked in interior tile, laying floors in bathrooms and kitchens. Still, after many years, the hard-on-the-knees tile work took its toll. They branched out into slab work, doing countertops, vanities, benches, fireplace surrounds and tub decks using stone from all across the world.

John Jr. joined the business in 1998. After the partnership disbanded in 2004, the father and son moved the operation to a barn they’d built on Lamb Road, right next to his home, renaming it Bennington Marble and Granite. John Sr. semi-retired recently, so it’s mostly John Jr. working with customers and cutting the massive stone pieces, but dad is a welcome presence at the shop. 

Bennington Marble and Granite works directly with the customer.

“Sometimes I work with their contractor, or a designer or architect, but ultimately, it’s about that personal relationship to the customer, one-on-one. You won’t find that at Home Depot,” John Jr. says.

Bennington Marble and Granite's customers can come directly to the Lamb Road facility, or one of his distributors, to see and feel the different stones and talk with John Jr. about their ideas. He works with them to make their dream kitchen or creative project into reality.

John Jr. says there's always a person with direct knowledge of the product and the process, some old-world craftsmanship in a throw-away world. Customers get to talk directly to the man cutting the stone, the man doing the final install, not a sales rep or a kid temporarily working the counter department. That’s a rarity today.

“I know it’s a cliche, quality over quantity, but it’s true,” John Jr. says. “It comes down to the time we spend with our customers and our hands-on experience with people and these products.”

John Jr. tells the story of a recent couple who had a unique kitchen layout.

“I spent nearly four hours working with them in the shop, laying out the slab pieces that would eventually become their kitchen, matching veins and seams in the stone to the different pieces to achieve what they wanted. I take a lot of pride in that. I’m measuring, cutting, templating, polishing  and installing these pieces. If anything’s wrong, it’s my fault,” he says.

It doesn’t stop there. Bennington Marble and Granite also removes old counters if there’s no one for the homeowner to do that for them. They also have set up temporary sinks for people, so they don’t have to use the bathtub.

“We do everything necessary to do the job,” John Jr. says. “We’ll take care of it. We’ve also been doing other projects, floating benches and farm sinks, so many things recently. It’s hard to remember them all.”

Although the business keeps growing, John Jr. hopes to keep it from getting too big.

“We want to stay small as much as we can,” John Jr. says. “We don’t ever want to be overextended. It’s really busy now with all the new people coming in, but we know there are dips, with good and bad times. I do know that, ultimately there needs to be growth, but the number one thing is we want to always offer the best quality in what we do. ... For us to keep that quality, we can’t grow too much. We want to stay a Vermont mom-and-pop, or pop-and-son in this case. That’s important to us.”

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