Terra Tile and Marble had its humble beginnings in the town of Alcora, Spain, in the province of Castellon. Castellon is the heart of ceramic art and tile in Spain where Manuel Gasch, founder of Terra Tile and Marble was born and raised. There he learned the tile trade and met many people who would later assist him in the tile industry. His family was always involved with tile production and the love of tile and marble runs deep in the roots of the Gasch family.
Manuel came to the New York area in the mid-seventies as a young man, bringing his love of tile with him. It was the post-Franco era and Spanish tile factories were eager to expand to this new market. The U.S. home improvement market was happy to oblige.
Manuel was soon representing more than a dozen manufacturers and travelling the U.S. selling to importers and distributors. Americans were changing their use of tile from just a few square feet on the bathroom floor to throughout the entire home. There was product demand.
Establishing in Westchester
He opened a warehouse in Ossining in 1989 for the wholesale trade but soon discovered that there was a retail market here waiting to be served. Establishment of a larger warehouse and showroom soon followed in Briarcliff Manor, and in 2000, another showroom in Fishkill and a stone fabrication plant for countertops in Millwood. The business has grown to the point where Terra Tile is one of the largest sources of imported tile and marble in all of Westchester and Duchess Counties.
The company caters to architects, builders, interior designers, and homeowners considering home improvement projects. These range from kitchens, home offices, bathrooms. and foyer upgrades to entire new home construction. Clients come direct to the showrooms and meet with a design consultant, or they can preview first the many products on the company website. Products are available from all over the world now–mainly Spain, Italy and American artisans.
Manuel’s son, David Gasch, also joined the family tradition 25 years ago by working summers in Castellon tile factories in his teenage years and then at Terra Tile during the school year. Dave says he “always feels blessed” that his dad chose Briarcliff to be the location for their first store. He says it’s a great area filled with wonderful people who really care about their homes. Dave takes pleasure in knowing that his neighbors are also his customers. That sensibility is very much in line with the very strong community Terra Tile fosters and supports.
Today, David is President of Terra Tile, succeeding his late father. From his experience of regularly attending tile trade shows in Italy, Spain and the US, he predicts that bold and bright colored tile is the new wave in home design. Perfect timing since Terra has just unveiled a new spring line “Fado” which exemplifies this trend–one you may wish to check out.
On the fabrication front, Terra expects large format porcelain slab installations to be an exciting part of their future projects. With this in mind, Terra just acquired new state of the art machinery to make single piece, groutless shower wall installations as well as intricate fireplace and countertop designs an amazing reality for our clients.
Proudly serving their local retail customers and over 175 tile and wholesale dealers, Terra Tile and Marble has an amazing selection of in-stock tile, marble, and accessories. For more information, visit TerraTileandMarble.com or call the store directly at (914) 923-4295.
The store is entirely curated by owner Tanya Tochner, an 18-year resident of Chappaqua. Tochner recently closed her jewelry store in Armonk to focus on the expansion of her business into home design at the Chappaqua Crossing location.