Jon T Aguilar / Master Stonebuilder + Artist

10/18/2026

RANDOM UPDATE:

Photo #1 -
The stone fence makes a 90 degree turn here. So what you are seeing are a bunch of “sight lines” (string lines) that look like lasers. We use these to “sight in” from above the lines the plane (face) of the stone to stay consistent with the 1-6 batter.

Remaining photos -
We are also installing 4 sculptures above the “big boy” wall. Mr. Happy is one of them. So we dug and set in rebar cages for the concrete footings.

This is a La Plata Stone Design | Stone walls, patios, & outdoor spaces project and the team consists of Sam Johnson Timnation Nate, Tanner, Matt, ♾Aidan♾ and myself.

10/04/2026

It’s the felt cowboy hat with the white tennis shoes and socks that gets me… prepping the dog run as we get ready to move my new, not-new, ex but not anymore wife and Torin and 3 dogs up from Texas this week.

09/26/2026

Just hoping to give you a little PAUSE in your daily schedule to admire the beauty of STONE & COLORS.

Thank you!

1- LEAD DESIGNER & PROJECT DIRECTOR:
Sam Johnson Samuel Johnson & Sam Johnson

2- TEAM:
- Tim Timnation
- Tanner
- Nate
- Matt Norton (Durango Dry Stone)
- Myself
- My son Aidan ♾Aidan♾

3) MATERIALS, TOOLS, MISC.:

- Moving towards 900 tons of 100% raw ROCK dumped on site that we turn into STONE with tools

- 100% of every stone on this project has been shaped by us with drills, feathers/ wedges, saws, grinders, hammers and chisels





stone
durango
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experiencedesign

09/20/2026

This absolute eyesore and disaster was built years ago outside the DURANGO, COLORADO water treatment facility in A public park area and along the river front walkway.

It’s a HIGH traffic area.

I condemn whatever “contractor” installed this on all fronts:

1) The absolute wrong choice of stone for this climate. This is shale stone. Barely qualifies as stone. It’s basically compressed clay.

2) The “workmanship” is below an F if that’s possible.

3) It’s now a liability for the city because big chunks of it are “calving” off.

4) It is an aesthetic “punch to the gut” every time anyone walks by this space.

What I find hard to believe is that this plan was approved, then installed and yet no one is held accountable for this disaster.

09/01/2026

Plot Twist!

After a 3 year “divorce”, the_j_ro (Jenni) and I are getting REMARRIED!🤙😄

23 years together gives you a lot of history - and apparently, sometimes, another chance.

Our story is not finished. As it turns out, God over everything means all things are possible.
Year 26 is year 1.

08/23/2026

08/02/2026

This week 5 of us spent about 3 plus days rough-shaping sh*tty-shaped rock into near usable wall stone. Then we still have to organize it all by sizes and move all of them to the other side of the house.

Then, we organize it on the ground by sizes again along 2 sides of a 176 linear feet of wall. Then we finish shaping each piece before setting.

A rough estimate is around 6-7,500 stones just for this long wall.

(I calculated the other day that when done we will have built approximately 7,000 face feet of various types of walls.)

1- LEAD DESIGNER & PROJECT DIRECTOR:
Sam Johnson Samuel Johnson & Sam Johnson

2- TEAM:
- Tim Timnation
- Tanner
- Nate (new guy)
- Myself

3) MATERIALS, TOOLS, MISC.:

- Moving towards 900 tons of 100% raw ROCK dumped on site that we turn into STONE with tools

- 100% of every stone on this project has been shaped by us with drills, feathers/ wedges, saws, grinders, hammers and chisels

- Excavator, walk-behind, MQuip vacuum lifter are our machines

We got about another 2,000 face feet of freestanding stone wall to build and more features.

07/26/2026

I like showing the CHAOS around the CREATION. All rock and fragments laying around that then become a STONE WALL.

The rock gets shaped into usable wall stone and then set into place. The fragments get used as the HEARTING (or what I call the “drystone mason’s mortar).

These photos and videos from yesterday show you a 100’ portion of the 176’ linear foot wall + a cross section view.

(I calculated the other day that when done we will have built approximately 7,000 face feet of various types of walls.)

1- LEAD DESIGNER & PROJECT DIRECTOR:
Sam Johnson Samuel Johnson & Sam Johnson

2- TEAM:
- Tim Timnation
- Tanner
- Nate (new guy)
- Myself

3) MATERIALS, TOOLS, MISC.:

- Moving towards 900 tons of 100% raw ROCK dumped on site that we turn into STONE with tools

- 100% of every stone on this project has been shaped by us with drills, feathers/ wedges, saws, grinders, hammers and chisels

- Excavator, walk-behind, MQuip vacuum lifter are our machines

We got about another 2,000 face feet of freestanding stone wall to build and more features.

07/19/2026

“All we need is a little patience…”

These photos and videos from yesterday show you a 100’ portion of the 176’ linear foot wall + a cross section view.

(I calculated the other day that when done we will have built approximately 7,000 face feet of various types of walls.)

1- LEAD DESIGNER & PROJECT DIRECTOR:
Sam Johnson Samuel Johnson & Sam Johnson

2- TEAM:
- Tim Timnation
- Tanner
- Nate (new guy)
- Myself

3) MATERIALS, TOOLS, MISC.:

- Moving towards 900 tons of 100% raw ROCK dumped on site that we turn into STONE with tools

- 100% of every stone on this project has been shaped by us with drills, feathers/ wedges, saws, grinders, hammers and chisels

- Excavator, walk-behind, MQuip vacuum lifter are our machines

We got about another 2,000 face feet of freestanding stone wall to build and more features.

07/05/2026

A three minute stroll around the entire linear footage of all the walls on this project.

1- LEAD DESIGNER & PROJECT DIRECTOR:
Sam Johnson Samuel Johnson & Sam Johnson

2- TEAM:
- Tim Timnation
- Tanner
- Nate (new guy)
- Myself

3) MATERIALS, TOOLS, MISC.:

- Moving towards 900 tons of 100% raw ROCK dumped on site that we turn into STONE with tools

- 100% of every stone on this project has been shaped by us with drills, feathers/ wedges, saws, grinders, hammers and chisels

- Excavator, walk-behind, MQuip vacuum lifter are our machines

We got about another 2,000 face feet of freestanding stone wall to build and more features.