Our History | Glen Woods & Santa Rosa Stone

History

The Story of Glen Woods and Santa Rosa Stone

My name is Glen Woods, and I have spent most of my life working in the stone industry.

The honest truth is that I originally entered the trade because I needed a job. I never imagined it would become a lifelong career, a creative passion and eventually the foundation of Santa Rosa Stone.

After graduating from high school in 1970, I began welding steel buildings for a construction company. I quickly realized that welding was not for me. I did not enjoy getting burned, working in the rain, being shocked or dealing with the other difficult conditions that came with the job. Even then, I knew I had an artistic side and wanted to find work that would allow me to use it.

Learning the Trade Through Trial and Error

Around 1983 or 1984, one of my roommates, who was a carpenter, began installing Corian countertops for a cabinet company. When he needed help, he asked whether I would be interested in joining him.

I agreed to give it a try, and that decision changed the direction of my life.

The company began landing larger commercial projects involving Corian countertops. As hotels and other commercial clients started requesting marble and granite, the business slowly expanded into natural stone.

None of us knew very much about stone at the beginning. We learned through observation, hard work and plenty of trial and error.

I was often sent from San Antonio to Austin to pick up slabs from a large stone supplier. Before I arrived, my employer would ask whether I could stay and watch their craftsmen work. I would spend time observing how they marked, cut, polished and handled the stone. I asked as many questions as possible, loaded the slabs and returned to San Antonio with everything I had learned.

We would then try those techniques ourselves.

Some lessons were harder than others. One of our early projects involved eight bathroom vanity tops in a four-story building. I believe we broke approximately six of the eight pieces before learning that the material needed to be routed, reinforced with steel and handled differently.

Mistakes became lessons, and those lessons became experience.

Developing Specialized Stoneworking Skills

As the company continued growing, we began completing high-end residential and commercial projects, including bathrooms, countertops, building fronts and elevator surrounds.

During that time, the company hired an experienced union stone installer who had spent many years working on exterior building systems, elevator fronts and countertops. He taught me valuable techniques involving anchoring systems, clips, exterior stone installation and cutting slots for anchors.

By approximately 1985 or 1986, I began working with a salesman who understood how to sell large commercial projects but did not yet have experience with fabrication or installation. He and a partner started Delta Marble and Granite.

Although I did not have an ownership interest in the company, I helped establish the fabrication side of the business. I helped select the proper saws and tools, trained employees and shared the knowledge I had gained in the trade. We completed several commercial projects along with a great deal of custom work.

Moving From Texas to California

During the late 1980s, the construction market in Texas came to a near standstill. There was very little work available in San Antonio, so our crews began traveling to other areas for projects.

Some of the people I worked with landed a project in Rancho Mirage, California. While I was finishing another job in San Angelo, a friend called and told me, “Glen, you have to come out here. They are still building in California.”

After completing the San Angelo project, I decided to travel to California and see what opportunities I could find.

Around the same time, I was engaged to my future wife, Angie. We had met at the first marble company where I worked—the same company that had sent me to Austin to learn how stone was cut and polished.

By 1990, Angie and I had fully relocated to the Palm Springs area. We eventually purchased our first home in La Quinta and began building our life in the Coachella Valley.

Custom Stonework in the Coachella Valley

After moving to California, I worked for several marble companies throughout the Valley and completed projects in some of the area’s most exclusive residential communities.

Commercial construction was limited compared with Texas, but there was a tremendous amount of high-end custom residential work. That was exactly the type of work I enjoyed because it gave me the opportunity to use my creativity.

Over the years, I have fabricated everything from custom marble handrails to stone doorknobs. I once installed an onyx floor inside one of Donald Trump’s airplanes. I also completed work in Elvis Presley’s former home and in properties connected to other well-known entertainers and public figures.

I worked extensively in communities such as The Vintage Club before developments including The Reserve and Bighorn were fully established. I also worked in Palm Springs, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and throughout the Coachella Valley.

Most of my career has involved custom work—pieces designed specifically for one home and one customer. That allowed me to create items that did not exist anywhere else.

I worked with several companies throughout the Valley, including Design MTC, Classic Marble and other local stone businesses, while also completing a great deal of freelance work.

When I first arrived in the Valley, there were relatively few people who could both fabricate and install stone. Because of that experience, I was able to work steadily, develop a strong reputation and support my growing family.

Learning to Manage a Large Stone Operation

One of the most important chapters of my career came when I joined KDI Stoneworks.

The owner was one of the strongest salespeople I had ever worked with. He could sell nearly any type of marble or granite project, ranging from tract developments to highly customized luxury homes.

While I had already developed extensive fabrication and installation skills, KDI gave me the opportunity to learn the management side of the business.

At one point, I was responsible for approximately 80 fabricators and installers working in a shop of around 7,000 square feet. We operated multiple saws and polishing machines and maintained an extremely demanding production schedule.

We completed projects throughout the Valley, including Sun City, Trilogy, The River and custom homes in Bighorn, The Reserve, The Vintage and many other communities.

Managing that operation taught me how to organize crews, maintain production schedules, solve problems, communicate with contractors and deliver large volumes of work without losing sight of quality.

Those lessons later became a major part of the Santa Rosa Stone business model.

Starting Santa Rosa Marble and Granite

After working for Paul and Annie at KDI Stoneworks for approximately six years, I reached a point when I knew I needed to create something of my own.

I remember waking up around four o’clock one morning and telling my wife, “I need to do this on my own.”

In 2006, a business partner and I opened J&G Santa Rosa Marble and Granite.

The company performed well during 2007 and the beginning of 2008. We purchased a beautiful building in Coachella that sat on approximately three-quarters of an acre. It was an ideal property for fabricating stone and storing slabs.

Despite the economic downturn, we continued moving forward by completing custom projects and adapting to changes in the industry. Quartz was becoming increasingly popular, and we fabricated a significant amount of Caesarstone and Cambria.

At one point, we were fabricating more Cambria than nearly any other stone company in the Coachella Valley. That work helped us survive some very difficult economic years.

By approximately 2011 or 2012, the market began improving. However, my business partner and I eventually decided to separate. We sold the building and went in different directions.

I continued the company under the name Santa Rosa Stone, Inc., obtained a new contractor’s license and moved into the facility we operate from today in Indio.