Have you looked at the 'blended textures' from Owens Corning? More rustic than the straight ledgestone, but could be close enough to make your Hubby happy. Their website shows a 80/20 mix of ledge and field [?] stone, but you could vary that easily.

Can't share the images just now, my computer is acting up...

I personally don't care for river rock, not even the real stuff: too much mortar shows for my taste, and for some reason the fake looks just awful.

10 years ago half the boys at the local high school worked summers picking up 'river' rock [most actually comes from dry hills that were subject to a lot of glacier activity]. My area is lousy with it. These days, almost no one is still doing it, the market has colapsed.

Thanks, oruboris. My in-laws have a gorgeous (real) river rock fireplace, but I agree on the outer stuff. I haven't seen any exterior that looks good. I'll check out Owens-Corning.

We are getting our stone from quality stone, www.qualitystoneveneer.com. I am happy with it, and the one piece of advice that stuck in my mind from the rep was to stick with stone available in your area. For instance, if you love river rock but it doesn't occur naturally in your area, don't use it. It's a tough decision, good luck!

Amy

Check these people out. I saw them on "this old house" and their stone is fantastic!! It is not cultured stone....it is REAL stone veneer. I plan to use it for my house.

Here is a link that might be useful: Natural Stone Veneer Inc

Ccombs1 - have you seen the Natural Stone Veneer in person?

We used El Dorado. Looks pretty good. I agree with Amy, go with what's in your area. We did somewhat of a craftsman look on our home. We drove around the area looking at rock on older houses to determine the style of rock we liked, and was actually used on older homes. To choose the color of the rock, we took samples of some of the rocks that ocurred naturally on our property. For the most part, you can't really tell it's not real rock. However, there are a few places that the stone was affixed in a manner that would be inconsistent with how real rock would be laid. Like a stone cut in an odd way, or affixed one right on top of the other with no overlap. That's a dead give away it's the fake stuff. Overall, we're very pleased with how it turned out.
Good luck!
Andy

Thanks, everyone! This is my first time on the forums and I'm overwhelmed by your helpful suggestions. One more--did everyone choose their stone after they saw it on a house/building? One dealer directed us to local buildings to look at their ledgestone but of course you can't see everything. Lots of these stones look great in small samples.

We chose Corinthian Granite. Our builder offered an Owens Corning product. We liked the look of the actual stone better. It was similar in price, but the edge pieces were more expensive.
I have added the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Champlain Stone

expatintoro, no I have not seen it in person yet. But since it is natural stone and not a man-made composite, I am sure it will great. I do plan to order a couple of small samples before committing to it myself. I need to do a fireplace wall and 4 columns in front of my house.

Dragonfly,

Is your house completed? I think the granite you chose looks beautiful with your house color! I like Champlain's Summit Granite but I don't know how DH will feel. And I wonder what it would cost, seeing as we are on the opposite coast.

valleymagpie, YES absolutely you need to see the stone up on a building before deciding. The samples you see in the showroom looked nothing like the actual installation. There are also many variables when it comes to the application. Different grout colors and techniques can change the entire look. I went out and looked at the exact same stone on 3 homes and each one looked like a different product. I'm an El Dorado Stone fan but those that have followed my build already know that! ;c)

Lindy

My house is not finished yet. Possibly by next week. We plan to start moving some things in this weekend if the locks are on the doors.
The edge pieces of the granite bumped up the cost. I think the mason said the corners were $11.00 each. He searched for the largest ones he could find. The other option was to have the mason cut the stone for corners. Then you add the labor cost so it would probably equal. The basic stone price was close to the Owens Corning price. I believe the price for the chimney and interior wall for wood stove came to $7,000. including labor which was a bit higher than our contractor expected.
This was the first time the mason had used this product and he was very pleased with the results. He is working with a contractor who builds log homes and he stated he would offer this product. We are all happy with this project.

Have you looked at Cultured Stone's River Rock, Stream Stone or Dressed Fieldstone? All have a rustic feel and will give you a different look than the rest of your neighbors. You really need to see them in person because the Owens Corning website doesn't have the greatest close-ups of the stone. You might look at their Photo Gallery for actual house pictures for a better idea.