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STONEFIELD 2026 WHAT DOES A SEASON LEAVE BEHIND? NOT JUST MEMORIES, BUT EVIDENCE.
What does a season leave behind? Not just memories, but evidence. This summer, stories of long journeys seemed to find us everywhere. The Odyssey reminded us that the measure of any voyage isn’t simply where it ends, but also about the return home. It felt less like entertainment than a quiet affirmation of how ancient stories still apply to present day very much. This season felt so full of life and activity. New colleagues joined every Stonefield office and discipline. Pocket-sized city guides became love letters to the neighborhoods we call home. Our monthly mixtape series has returned after gathering some dust. Bonsai trees quietly reminded us that remarkable things are cultivated, never rushed. Daily Carry and Selects both offer another way of seeing the world through someone else’s perspective. Outside the office, Orientations, the Summer Party, Project Stonefield, and the debut of TekProd all share the same underlying idea: culture isn’t just built during meetings and events —it’s also built in the moments between them. Through improbable challenges, shared playlists, ambitious ideas, and conversations that outlast the workday. Even this summer’s World Cup feels like part of the same story. It’s easy to celebrate talent. It’s far more interesting to watch what happens when cultures collide and realize how fun and inspiring it can be. Soon, summer will give way to autumn, from the Latin autumn's—the season of harvest. Harvest is collecting the fruit and enjoying together. Maybe that’s what this issue is really about. Culture comes from cultivation. The process of nurturing, developing, and growing something. And that process is the journey that we all share. And the understanding that whatever Stonefield becomes next will be shaped, as it always has been, by people choosing to build something meaningful together.
MIXTAPES
JUN NO. 51
JUL NO. 52
AUG NO. 53
SUMMER NEWSLETTER
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A FEW THINGS MAKING LIFE PRETTY GOOD LATELY.
1. My 10-month-old daughter, Ilana. There really is nothing greater. Spending everyday with her is full of joy! 2. Summer night drives in the convertible listening to Greek music. Usually, 9W or the west side highway. 3. Traveling to Hudson Valley towns, like cold spring and spending a day being a tourist with my family. 4. Jeopardy! Regretfully I am 33 years old and apparently don’t have enough going on. I’m just as dumb now as I was before I started watching but I love learning information that people find interesting for less than 5 seconds. 5. Dinners at Café Italiano in Englewood Cliffs. Shameless plug (father in law’s restaurant) but if you ever need a hard to find good Italian restaurant in NJ, this is the one. 6. Gardening, I redid my front yard and now have wildflowers and other plants (don’t even know what I bought) blossoming. I’ll just go outside and stare at them to make sure they’re perfect.
SUMMER PARTY RECAP
OUT OF OFFICE, DOWN THE SHORE.
This year’s Summer Party landed us in Asbury Park, where the plan was appropriately simple: meet at the boardwalk and see where the day went. Things started around lunchtime at Palmetto with food, drinks, and the full crew settling in by the ocean. From there, everyone scattered. Some hit the beach, others took on the arcade and mini golf, and families made their way to the splash park. There was no real agenda beyond enjoying a summer afternoon in Asbury—and that turned out to be plenty. As daylight faded, the party naturally spread beyond the boardwalk. Some stayed local, some made their way to Columns, others headed north to Donovan’s Reef, and a determined few eventually found themselves closing things out at Kim Marie’s. For some, the weekend had already started a day earlier with a first look at our new Asbury Park office—and, for the lucky ones, a Jonas Brothers concert that night. Office tour. Ocean. Arcade games. A few drinks. A few more stops. Not a bad way to spend a summer weekend together.
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STONEFIELD 2026
BY DAY, GEORGE MAPS OUT PROPERTY LINES. AT HOME, HE SHAPE'S LIVING ART. We know George surveys trees by day, but we heard some (questionably embellished) tales of trees that he oversees by night, and we had to find out for ourselves just how legitimate his operation was. The road to George’s home doesn’t give much away. We weren’t sure if we were pulling up to a back deck with a handful of miniature trees or something far more serious. It turned out to be the latter. George met us at the door on a sweltering July afternoon that pushed 100 degrees dressed for a full day outside—a long-sleeve sun shirt, Crocs, sunglasses, and an American flag bandana holding back his strawberry-blond ponytail. His wife and FIVE children had just escaped to his dad’s pool to cool off. George, meanwhile, had work to do. A short walk behind the house led us to a weathered barn sitting just a few steps from a quiet creek bordering the property. Between the two was an unexpected landscape: nearly 300 bonsai trees and companion plants, counted by his oldest child, spread across handmade display tables, custom pedestals, and every available patch of ground. This isn’t a collection. It’s a routine. Every tree has its own needs. Some require more water than others. Some need full sun while others spend part of the day in the shade. They rotate constantly. They’re trimmed, wired, pruned, inspected, and watered multiple times a day. There are no weekends or vacations from this hobby. Miss a day, and years of work can disappear. George built much of the space himself. Extending off the back of the barn is a greenhouse constructed almost entirely from reclaimed lumber, old doors, and salvaged windows left over from renovations he made to his home. Even the structures holding the trees carry the same philosophy: build it yourself, make it last, and let it evolve over time. His most prized specimens (some of which are nearly 80 years old) live in carefully selected handmade ceramic pots. As we walked through the rows, George shared stories about individual trees, lessons learned through trial and error, and techniques that feel equal parts horticulture and art. One demonstration stood out above the rest. To create a new branch exactly where he wanted one, George drilled a small hole through the trunk of a tree and carefully threaded a living branch through it. Over time, the tree heals around the branch until it becomes part of the trunk itself. Once the graft is established, the original connection can be cut and removed, leaving behind what
appears to be a naturally grown branch. It’s the kind of patience bonsai quietly demands and the style of trickery that can only be accomplished by somebody with years of experience. Although his grandfather first introduced him to bonsai years ago, George didn’t begin building his own collection until 2020. Like many people searching for something meaningful during quarantine, he picked up a hobby. Unlike most hobbies, this one never stopped growing. Six years later, what started with a single tree has become an ever-evolving landscape shaped by consistency, curiosity, and thousands of small decisions made one day at a time. George hopes to exhibit several of his trees at a major bonsai show in upstate New York in early 2027, another milestone in a journey that’s still very much unfolding. His advice for anyone interested is refreshingly simple: spend $20 to $50 on your first tree and start experimenting. The first year isn’t about creating a masterpiece—it’s about learning. Every mistake teaches you something, and every season leaves you a little better than the last. George occasionally finds his newest experiments at job sites. He carefully uproots them and brings them home to add to his ever-growing collection. If you’ve ever been curious about bonsai, George is always happy to talk. Just ask.
SUMMER NEWSLETTER
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WHERE IN THE WORLD?
This specific seaside section of the City is about a half mile from the office and is actually comprised of 4 different wharves that are left over from the original 50. The city was a major maritime trading hub between the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. This specific port grew from small-scale fishing and trade in the 1600s – 1700s into major commerce drivers once it was further developed by the Derby family. While I’ve personally got some mixed feelings on the Derby family’s history, the wharf they built out was really cool and it’s a really nice area to walk around and hang out at after visiting some of the seaside restaurants and shops in that area. A common feature on harborside developments are the seawalls comprised of large rip rap stone to help dissipate the energy caused by waves crashing so the engineer in me likes to vibe out there and observe from time to time.
S o m e t h i n g' s
B r e w i n g ...
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STONEFIELD 2026
SUMMER NEWSLETTER
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[ GUESS WHO: ♣6 ♠A ♥8 ♦5 ♣2 ♠4 ♥3 ♦7 ] [ WITW: Salem Historic Wharves ]
2026 SUMMER NEWSLETTER