Patio furniture that can last outdoors with no maintenance for more than a hundred years? It sounds like a futuristic scenario, since it requires being able to withstand wind, sun, rain, snow, hail and rot. But for Dwayne Cranford, the secret involves going back to the Stone Age. His Stone 2 Furniture company in Livermore, Colorado creates ergonomically correct furniture crafted from natural rocks and scrap metal, so that each piece is unique and impervious to the elements that tend to make every other kind of outdoor furniture disappointing or inconvenient
"Imagine: Stone furniture requires no painting, no sanding, no staining, no lugging indoors and out depending on the season, it can't blow around during a storm, it's not going to fade from the sun, and most of all, the way I make it, it's incredibly comfortable," Cranford says. " And though most of our customers order Stone 2 Furniture for outdoor use, it also looks chic and rustic inside a sunroom or totally indoors."

Most of the stone from which Cranford fashions one-of-a-kind tables, chairs, benches, bistro sets, chaise loungers and bar sets comes from Colorado and Idaho, while the metal frames consist of recycled steel that has already rusted outdoors as much as it ever will. This year, available stones also include marble and jade and available metals also include aluminum and bronze.

Since rocks absorb heat from the sun, the stone furniture often feels warm to sit on. Cranford fashions with the design of each seat until it is as comfortable for the user as it is memorable for the onlooker.

Although weighing in at roughly 200 pounds per stone chair, the preassembled furniture is easily shipped to customers everywhere in the U.S. by a freight company for around $1.25 a pound. The furniture itself is individually priced, with a three-piece deep seating set going for $3,500 and up.