"All happy families are happy alike, all unhappy families are unhappy in
their own way."
Leo Tolstoy,  Anna Karenina

I have always admired the dense, olive-colored graining of Nova Scotia
sandstone, which complements so nicely tan and straw colored brick.  It was in
frequent use in New York City in the 1870's and 1880's by "educated" architects
like Henry Hardenbergh, as on his Dakota apartment house.  From this I infer that
Nova Scotia was more expensive.

Sandstone.   Brownstone is sandstone.  Are all sandstones - whether happy or
unhappy - alike?  The surviving examples of NS sandstone are in pretty good
shape, far better than the typical example of brownstone.

But is this perhaps a flawed sample - that is, the more expensive projects
(using NS) simply had more budget for better quality sandstone?   Or is NS
itself "better" than brownstone?   If so, what is it that makes brownstone so much
worse than NS?   Do our northern neighbors - of whatever province - even have
any brownstone?

Christopher