My Alberene DIY experience is 2 years old, so I guess that's too out of date for your liking, and it can be searched in old threads anyways.
Casey

I find the "search" function on this website practically useless - the only way I can find something old is to Google it and go through what that search engine picks up.

So if you'd care to share again, I'd appreciate it.

(Any tips on making search work better?)

I was thinking about using them for the same reasons you mention, but I'm probably not going to do soapstone so I dropped the idea. I think Casey has a kind they don't have any more of, that is much harder. If I remember correctly, the kind that they have longer slabs of is softer. I am sure if you asked them, they could tell you. The slabs are pretty short, but not so short that you couldn't use them. I also found them super-nice to deal with, the little bit that I did.

We just had the Old Dominion from Alberene installed last week and I am very happy with it. The Old Dominion is fairly hard compared to some of the other types of soapstone available. And it is a misconception that they only have short slabs, the slabs are not huge but are by no means short. The old dominion's appearance can range from very slight to moderate veining and tends to have a sort of speckled look. It appears gray prior to oiling and dark gray with a slight greenish hue after.
As far as having it fabricated by the guy at Alberene you may be better off getting the raw slab and finding your own fabricator. My installer, who was recommended by alberene, told me that they are trying to faze out fabrication due to various issues with their fabricator. Now that is purely hearsay so it could be wrong but if you do have it fabricated closer to you than any issues may be resolved easier than dealing with someone in VA.
The people at Alberene are very helpful and if you do decide to use them then just call Linda and tell her what you are looking for and she can either see if it is available or let you know when a piece that will suit has been mined. We did not look at our slabs prior to installation- I sort of wanted a surprise and between Linda and my fabricator I felt that they would get it right and I have not been disappointed in the least bit. I will try to post a picture tomorrow, our kitchen is not done and the camera is dying a slow death so we will see how it goes.

We used Alberene for our soapstone and am very happy with it. Once we found it, I was hooked on the "local" piece -- we only live about an hour from them. I went several times to visit the site to find our slabs - it has a fascinating history. But, I love that kind of stuff and could hang out all day hearing about history, looking at old buildings, old machinery, watching them prepare slabs, etc. If you ever do go, they have small pieces that you can pick up for practically nothing and use as stepping stones, etc. I think, really cool.

We have Old Dominion variety and love, love, love my soapstone. It has received a nick or two in the few months that we have had it, but I honestly don't mind. I have three boys who help in the kitchen and I quickly got over asking them to be "gentle" with the new counters as I would rather have them with me and enjoying themselves, so I had to let go of having it stay "unmarked".

If it matters to you, I think having someone close to you fabricate and install would be best practice. It mattered to me how veining looked and where seams would be, so being able to meet with the fabricator as we laid out template together was a must.

Good luck with your project, I would not hesitate to recommend Alberene as a source for soapstone.