hey brian!! i agree the weather is awesome right now!! as for the countertop i love the set in stone idea but my reservation would be how the face of the bar graduates out to the extent of the lip of the counter top without impeding with leg room both foward knee depth and taking into consideration stool height is pretty standard so thigh height might get kinda tight too. by no means am i shooting this idea down and i might not be thinking of the right area so i could be way off on what i am thinking. another possible con would be forearm and arm comfort when sitting at the counter or using it.

with all that said i think its an awsome idea and im sure with creative thinking many of these probs can be solved.

what style of stone carving will be dun on the face of the bar like a more natural rock style or more of a stacked stone style?

if you dont mind seating being kind of "placed" i could almost see a build out almost like a stacked coulmn with the top stones spreading out and getting a bit smaller where each person sits at the counter or maybe kind of a stalagmitey look, think stones that flair out from the face and" spread" out at the top to meet and wrap the edge?

just some thoughts.

ok i see i had things turned around with people being on the outside of the bar. with that i can see not much lip if any being needed and not much of a problem flowing all of it together. this idea should be really cool and very original!!