StoneLike brick, stone is durable and low maintenance. Available in a wide range of colors, textures and sizes, stone is adaptable to just about any aesthetic. Traditionally, naturally quarried stone was stacked in large, heavy pieces that were quite expansive to install. To reduce costs while keeping the look of stone, some manufacturers started making stone veneers, a man-made material that is pigmented and shaped to resemble stone. Not to be outdone, the stone quarries developed technologies to cut natural stone into thin veneers. The result is lower prices and a wider range of stone materials.Cost: about $35 to $50 per square foot installed. More about stone siding