Originally built as a factory that housed Val-Kill Industries, Val-Kill Cottage soon became Eleanorâs cottage. Eleanor Roosevelt was a highly dynamic, broadly effective, and controversial first lady. While her husband was alive, she used the cottage as her personal retreat. When he died, she made it her permanent home.
Granite is composed mainly of quartz and feldspar with minor amounts of mica, amphiboles and other minerals. This mineral composition usually gives granite a red, pink, gray or white color with dark mineral grains visible throughout the rock. Granite is the best-known igneous rock.
Like all rocks, granite may contain naturally occurring radioactive elements like radium, uranium and thorium. Some pieces of granite contain more of these elements than others. These radioactive elements are solids, but, over time, they may decay into radon, says the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).