FOR MOST OF the 2000s, white Calacatta and Carrara marble, with their subtle colorations, reigned as interior design’s status stones. “Everyone” craved the gray and gold hints of color that ran through the marbles popular then, recalled Gabriela Cruz, vice president of operations with Nash Stone Group in Farmingdale, N.Y.What no one would have guessed at the time was that a marble shot through with wine-red veining would dethrone white marbles so handily in the 2020s. But Calacatta Viola, with its rivulets of aubergine and burgundy, has done just that. Today customers want marble with color and life, notes Ms. Cruz, who theorizes that a post-Covid desire for vibrancy is driving the passion for the stone. Chicago designer Caroline Turner, who recently installed a kitchen worktop and backsplash in the material, says demand for Viola has reached a “fever pitch.”

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