"limestone quarry block", "exposed concrete block", "brick in one of the interior doors", "no one makes this specific stone anymore"

Very confusing.

Are you saying this is a man made product? Or did it come from a quarry? A few pictures of your home, would tell us some things also.

Sorry for the confusion. Yes, manmade product of limestone/concrete mix (I think - i'm no stone expert!). It's called Ocala Block. Lots of history..... different sizes, slight variations in colors....

https://moderngainesville.com/ocala-block/

Here's someone's masters thesis on this stone (!):

https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/E0/05/22/85/00001/CHAWLA_M.pdf

I don't care if the product is the same mix or type of stone that's in our house; I just care for a semi-close visual match.

Sell your "valuable and rare" limestone quarry block that were extremely common there in the 50s and 60s to someone that is doing a fairly large home renovation and replace it with masonry that is inexpensive and readily available; it will help finance your fairly large home renovation.

Pictures of the existing home and proposed drawings would help.

You may be able to have someone make concrete blocks out of dyed or tinted concrete to get a close match, and you can make the concrete blocks whatever size you need.

How was I suppose to know that? Do you expect me to read your mind? Find a local draftsman and be rude to them.

It looks like in the article you linked that people do have duplicates made out of concrete to replace damaged original stone blocks.

Have you considered in-fill of the door opening with a different (contrasting) material?

Charles, yes we will put something else in the house if needed, but prefer to find a solution here that works.

You might check with local demolition contractors to see if they have any upcoming projects with Ocala block and salvage what you need.

Quite honestly, the opening will be very noticable even if you find the exact blocks. I might rethink even looking for them, and think about something decorate to the room, that will look like a deliberate design feature, rather than a patch, that is very noticable. I have seen people brick up windows, with the exact same brick, thats on the house, and it never looks good. It always looks like a patch. Much better to think about a design feature that goes with your style of decor when its interior. Otherwise, I would suggest you do something different on the entire wall where the doorway you want to close up is, so its the same all the way across. Maybe sheetrock the entire wall, and make the entire wall a design feature.

Is it exposed block on both sides? If the inner wall of the den is plaster or drywall, maybe the door could just be left in place on the outside, block part of the wall and covered over on the inside?

I live in a neighborhood of early 19th c. houses and doorways/doors were frequently maintained on the hallway side for appearances, but blocked up/covered over on the inside, when they were converted to apartments or otherwise modified.

Salvaged material is probably your best bet.

SRM Concrete Acquires Block Plant in Ocala, Florida

SMYRNA, TN – September 19, 2023

SRM Concrete has acquired the assets of Ocala Block. The concrete block manufacturing plant borders the property of one of SRM’s existing Ocala plants.

Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Hollingshead stated, “We are thrilled to bring on the team at Ocala Block. We gained a great group of people, and we look forward to growing our block distribution capabilities in Florida.”

SRM Concrete currently operates nine concrete block plants in the southeast. This acquisition marks SRM’s first block plant in Florida.

SRM Concrete is the largest privately owned ready-mix concrete manufacturer in the country. Established in 1999 by Mike and Melissa Hollingshead in Smyrna, Tennessee, the family-owned company owns and operates an expansive network of ready-mix concrete plants, quarries, cement terminals, block plants, and other ancillary services.

SRM Concrete has pursued an active acquisition strategy, having successfully acquired and integrated over ninety companies since 2005. SRM employs over 6,800 team members with sites that span 19 states. For a complete list of our locations and to learn more about SRM Concrete, please visit smyrnareadymix.com.

Contacts:
Lora Smith
Lsmith@smyrnareadymix.com
(615) 355-1028

You have a historically significant property. Call them and ask for help or recommendations. Pictures of your home could help. Maybe a formula is known.

Actually if you can't get the block, I think I would rather see this patched in carefully and stuccoed and painted to blend in without necessarily trying to conceal it, if you can't, rather than doing a contrasting material in the middle of the wall randomly.

This is what I see in old buildings like the local museums and older public buildings, it's carefully covered over but acknowledged as a repair or alteration while treading lightly on the original.

Option 1 is salvaged material from another house that might be found at a local salvage store or warehouse.

Option 2, doing something else depends on what this opening looks like. Can it be filled with a similar material in a slightly different color and become an accent? Can you as palimpsest suggests fill it with a neutral material like plaster then paint it to match so it blends in? Can you cover it with another feature like an art element, bookcase, etc. The advantage of filling with something other than block or brick is you or someone in the future could reintroduce this door in the future if needs change.

Hello H2O2, did you have any luck finding something? We are looking for similar. Thank you.