Stone Entrance Wall — Sunnyside Estate, Hillside

A 3-metre stone entrance wall and side wall with windows for the water tower building conversion at Sunnyside Estate — a luxury housing development set within 64 acres of mature estate grounds in Hillside, just outside Montrose.

This was our first job on the estate. By the time we finished, we’d earned two more years of work on site.

The Brief

Sunnyside Estate needed stonework for a water tower building being converted into new flats. The job required a substantial entrance wall with pillars — 3 metres high, 500mm wide, with 600mm square pillars on each side — plus a side wall fitted with windows.

The entire build was architect-specified. Every dimension, every course, every detail followed professional plans. On a project like this there’s no room for guesswork — the stonework has to meet exact measurements and sit right alongside the rest of the building work. That’s the standard we were held to, and it’s the standard we delivered.

Working With Reclaimed Stone

Both walls were built using reclaimed stone sourced from demolished buildings. Reclaimed stone doesn’t arrive ready to lay. Every piece had to be cut back to the correct depth and face size before it could go into the wall. It was a lot of work — but it’s the only way to get a proper build and a clean finish from salvaged material.

The effort is worth it. Reclaimed stone has a character that new-cut material doesn’t. Every stone is different — different texture, different weathering. When it’s laid properly, the result is a wall that looks like it belongs, not like it was dropped in yesterday.

Structural Detail

The side wall presented its own challenge. The long keystones beside the windows are precast concrete — not stone — and had to be installed using special ties to anchor them securely into the structure. Getting the integration right between the precast elements and the reclaimed stonework takes precision. The finished wall had to read as one piece, with no visible compromise between materials.

The Finish

All pointing was done with ready-mix masons mortar. When you’re working with reclaimed stone across two separate walls, colour consistency in the pointing matters. Ready-mix guarantees every joint matches — no variation, no patchwork, no guessing at ratios on site. It’s a detail most people won’t consciously notice, but it’s the difference between stonework that looks right and stonework that looks patched together.

The Result

The difference between what was here before and what stands now speaks for itself.

The client was satisfied enough to keep Masowa & Son on site for another two years of stonework across the development. That’s the real measure of a job done properly.