Today, thanks to these same qualities, it rubs shoulders with favorite surfaces such as marble and terrazzo in the material libraries of interior designers near and far. Just look at AD proof: AD100 designer Steven Volpe opted for a ridged travertine bathtub with a view in the Manhattan apartment that made the cover of last February. May cover star Kacey Musgraves showed off a vintage travertine dining table in her Nashville haven. AD100 designer Vincenzo de Cotiis used the fan favorite on floors, furniture and a glamorous bathtub in the Paris apartment of fashion designer Pierre Hardy and her husband and brand CEO Christopher Turnier. And Parisian designer Diego Delgado-Elias recently designed a kitchen island and matching light fixture in the material of the moment for a French farmhouse in Provence. For the fronts of the island he left the porous and natural roughness of the material, while on the worktop he added a translucent resin filling to make it more suitable for a kitchen counter.

“The block can be cut two ways,” says Delgado-Elias, who has used travertine for flooring and outdoor furniture before. “We leave graphic lines that can be used vertically or horizontally; the other gives you different color tones and shades. You can use it wherever you want, keeping in mind that [it] is a natural stone that acquires a patina and stains over time.

AD100 designer Julie Hillman, known for her bold use of stone in her interior design projects, counts travertine among her favorites. “Its earth tone palette is complementary to almost any finish or color, making it incredibly easy to use,” she explains. “It adds a sheer material that can warm up any space.” More recently, she has applied it to sinks, walls and floors. His advice for getting the most out of the equipment? Go for unfilled travertine on vertical walls and filled travertine on horizontal surfaces.