JOSH BILLIG ROCKS

        Developers have been pushing artists out of Coconut Grove for decades. One of the few remaining is stone mason, Josh Billig. 
   Since 1978 Josh has been Miami's premiere builder of stone structures. I got to know Josh back then. We were learning the craft as we helped build the 400-foot wall across from the Coconut Grove Playhouse.

 
      We learned from the pros, Bahamian masons like Renfrew Stewart and Alphonso Benebee.

 

Me and my wall, forty years later

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's always a thrill to pass by my 50-foot section and see the stones I pieced together forty years ago. There are mini-sculptures within it too. Maybe I can show 'em to you sometime.

     Two weeks of stone masonry was enough for me but fortunately, Josh Billig is still at it with his successful business, "Rockers". His beautiful creations are all over South Florida. 

      Here are a few,

 Carrolton School on Main Highway

 The entrance to Fairchild Gardens' visitors center.

                            The Billig's mailbox

  

     



 

 

 

 

    One of Josh's best works is still in progress. It's the entrance of The Moorings,the gated community on Main Highway.
  
     Six hundred and fifty feet long, Josh and his crew have been working on it for over a year (it took a year and a half just to get permits).

    Stop by and see this cut-stone beauty. The hardest part, building the columns, is almost done. Josh expects the wall to be completed in early February.

 

 
Each rock is carefully cut on this huge chop saw.

For more information on Josh's coral rock creations, visit his website, www.RockersStone.com .

His business partner (and wife), Michelle, can explain everything.










  

  



To see how Josh and his crew assemble these stone sculptures stop by The Moorings. They're building their latest beautiful wall one rock at a time. 

                                  

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