Legacy Cast In Stone

Homeowners may be familiar with Cosentino as an internationally established brand offering premium and innovative stone surfacing materials, but few are aware of its origins or the man behind it. Home & Decor travels to Spain to find out more about the inspirational success behind the family-owned company and its humble beginnings.

Cosentino’s story began in the 1940s, when members of the Martinez-Cosentino family first settled in Macael, a Spanish region famous for its production of white marble. The family established their careers around the production of simple marble products.

The allure of Macael marble dates as far back as the fourth century, when it was highly sought after and excavated by the Romans for use as base materials for marble statues. Unique to the location, the marble owes its natural beauty to the surrounding mineral-rich mountains of Andalusia. So, like many others in the community, the MartinezCosentino family’s livelihood was closely connected to the marble quarries spread across the land.

This foundation led the second-generation owners of Cosentino, Francisco Martinez-Cosentino Justo (fondly referred to as Paco by his family) and his two brothers, to take over and grow the business rapidly in less than 40 years, earning it a spot on the world map. However, the rise to the top didn’t come easy for the brothers.

Paco shares that they started with a very small workshop, making marble tombstones and accessories, before saving enough for a bigger factory. But while the quality Macael marble helped establish Cosentino as a brand, the forward-looking brothers knew they had to venture beyond just quarrying and producing the natural stone, in order to expand and remain sustainable when faced with the situation of diminishing marble resources in the region.

PAVING THE WAY