WWLT would like to wish our Board Vice President Lee Troutwine good luck this weekend as he participates in the Dry Stone Conservancy’s Marathon Wall Build, the first ever to take place in the country. As a second level dry-stone mason, Lee will be kicking off the marathon with 2 hours of stone laying for a dry stone wall at McConnell Springs in Lexington. Dry stone walls are an iconic feature of the Kentucky landscape, built using no mortar to bind them together.
Lee has been a dry stone mason for 22 years. His interest in the trade stemmed from a historical wall on his land in Peaks Mill that was toppled during the flood of ’97. Finding it quite expensive to replace the original wall, he decided to get training to rebuild it himself, and has been laying stone ever since. In 2009, he won the amateur class in the National Dry Stone Walling Competition. He received his first-level certification in 2012 and his second-level certification in 2019. Every dry stone mason has a signature build, he says, and his signature is a level copes, the final layer on the top of the wall.
Lee says his passion for dry stone building goes hand-in-hand with his desire to help preserve the land because dry stone walls are an integral and historical part of the Kentucky landscape. It’s one of the most reliable forms of fencing, he says, as it’s insect- and fire-proof, made of materials found on the land, requires no paint, and cattle respect it—not to mention its durability. Lee gets most of the stone for his walls right from the 120-acre property he owns with his wife Betty. The land is located along the Elkhorn Creek and part of WWLT’s Sulphur Lick Conservation Priority Area.
Best of luck this weekend, Lee!
