Over the past six decades, Anthony Damiano has witnessed Long Branch’s many evolutions — and has been a part of them.
Born and raised in Long Branch and a business owner for three of those decades, Damiano has influenced the town’s aesthetics and has been an ardent supporter of the community.
“The renaissance is interesting — and I’m happy to be a part of it,” says Damiano, owner of The Stone Gallery Inc. Both Damiano and his wife, Frances, with whom he opened the business in 1992, are generations deep in Long Branch history: Frances’ father owned Pistol Pete’s Restaurant on the boardwalk, and Damiano’s grandfather owned one of the town’s oldest pool halls.
Damiano certainly knows his stone. He has been in the industry for 43 years, starting his career at masonry building material supply company Joseph Calabretta Inc. while attending Brookdale Community College. When the business was bought by Clayton Block Co., he was offered a job managing the Long Branch location and decided to “give this a shot.”
When he opened his own business, he brought his masonry building materials experience to the next level by adding an architectural focus.
“We provide a design center where an architect, interior designer, landscape architect, contractor or homeowner can come into the showroom with their plans, lay them out on one of our workstations and choose from a wide variety of products to design the project of their dreams from fine stone finishes,” he explains.
Damiano sees people incorporating stone into interior as well as exterior applications.
“People are bringing natural stone into the house as an accent wall, on a stairway or as a countertop,” he notes.
When asked about trends, Damiano shares really “anything goes,” but he is seeing a more modern flair around town.
“We are seeing Manhattan and Brooklyn designers and architects coming here to modernize the cedar shake–style homes with glass, strong angles and geometric shapes,” he says.
Damiano encourages people to stop by and visit their newly renovated showroom.
“We are very particular about what brands we carry,” he shares. “We only work with vendors who are going to stand behind their product.”
In true family-business style, customers will encounter Damiano’s cousin, Anthony Rescigno, along with design expert Chrissy Ferrigno, on the showroom floor.
While there, Damiano encourages customers to ask about the origins of the stone. One of the things he enjoys most about his work is educating customers and serving as a resource for architects and designers.
“I study the quarries where our materials come from, whether from here or abroad,” he says. “I can tell you, for example, that stone is from Texas, the Midwest or New England and how they are composed differently by nature and create different aesthetics.”
Often, customers will come in with photos of design concepts, but if they don’t, Damiano, Rescigno and Ferrigno have them covered.
“Our tagline is ‘Your Idea in Stone.’ We take your concepts and build them in stone for you. We will ask you what you like in terms of color, pattern and materials,” Damiano explains. “For example, we have an endless variety of options in tile: large and small, polished and unpolished, ones that look like stone or marble, patterns on porcelain, natural stone and mosaics.”
Look around town and you’ll see hallmarks of The Stone Gallery.
“We like getting involved in the community,” Damiano says. “We have helped town services or groups that came to us for assistance building a monument or doing a design that involves stone by donating materials. We’ve been here for decades, and our excitement has not diminished.”
View designs at thestonegalleryinc.com.