Richard Tufnell, master stone mason from the United Kingdom has been crafting dry laid stone walls for over 30 years.  Richard is an expert in the history and craft of not only stonewalling but the use of stone from pre- historic to modern times.   From the oldest structures known to a rebirth in modern landscaping, dry stone encompasses most of human history, including engineering, archaeology, geology, ancient landscapes, rural employment and third world development.

The USA, particularly areas in central Kentucky, has a substantial dry stone heritage that is very little known, even among those that are in charge of preserving the past.  A past winner of the BBC's Small Rural Business Award and Rolex Award for the Environment,

Richard has given numerous lectures, including at the National Building Museum, and has been involved with dry stone in more than forty countries.  He has also worked with a number of US National Parks, State Parks, and was awarded the keys to Lexington, Kentucky, for his role in reviving the craft and for co-founding the Dry  Stone Conservancy.  He has written many newspaper and journal articles, appeared on national TV in a number of countries. Richard and his wife Amanda recently moved to a small village in the south of France where they are restoring an 18th century stone farm house.

Michael met Richard at a dry stone walling workshop at the Pine Mountain School in Southern Kentucky.  It is Michael’s good fortune that Richard continues to come to Cincinnati from his home in Southern France to supervise and construct some of the most beautiful stone walls ever built in this region of the Midwest.