The question that changed everything was deceptively simple.

It was Josiah Lilly’s second day on a job site in Dana Point. He was 16 years old, working for a stucco company to pay for his truck and help support his family. Then the tile installer on the site walked over and asked: “Can you read a tape measure?”

Of course he could. He quit stucco that afternoon and showed up the next morning to set tile. He has never looked back.

That moment in 1990 set the trajectory for what would become one of the most respected stone and tile fabrication companies in Southern California. Today, Epic Ceramic & Stone is the team that Orange County’s biggest builders and most celebrated architects trust with their own homes — the contractor they call when no one else will do.

35 Years. One Industry. No Plateau.

Josiah Lilly is 52 years old and has been in the stone and tile industry for 35 years. He started his own company at 17, took his GED after 10th grade, and spent his early twenties learning the business from the ground up — including a three-year stint in the Caribbean before returning to California in 1994 and rebuilding from scratch.

The hustle started long before tile. At 11, he was cutting grass and delivering newspapers. By 16, he was doing homeschool half-days so he could work full time. Entrepreneurship has never been a career choice for Josiah — it has always simply been who he is.

“The one area of my life where I am virtually fearless is business. I’ve taken huge risks. When I opened Famosa, I had no idea what it was like to open a tile store. When I opened Slab Studio, I had never inventoried material. I never doubted for a second it would work. I just see opportunity and I know I’ll figure it out.”

That fearlessness, combined with an obsessive drive to improve, is what has kept Epic Ceramic & Stone at the front of the pack for more than three decades.

The First Big Break: A $150,000 Job and a 20-Year Relationship

Around 1997, Josiah landed the job that told him everything about where Epic was headed. The client was Steve O’Neill of O’Neill Development — the man who held all of the global merchandising rights for Harley-Davidson. The project was in Villa Park — a $150,000 contract, the largest Epic had ever taken on at the time.

“When we were able to take on a job of that stature, for someone who could have hired absolutely anyone,” Josiah recalls, “I think that was the first time I truly appreciated who we were going to become.”

Steve didn’t just hire Epic for one project. He became an exclusive client for the next 20 years — until he retired.

What Epic Ceramic & Stone Does

Epic is a tile and stone fabrication and installation company, but Josiah describes it in far more personal terms.

“We take what I believe is the most complicated part of the finishes of your home and make it as personal and connected to the client as possible. Because at the end of the day, what you’re giving us is your trust. The environments we create are the spaces where memories are made — the kitchen where you’ll feed your family, the bathroom where you’ll give your baby its first bath. We take that seriously.”

What Epic does, in Josiah’s words, is turn a house into a home.

Epic’s primary specialty is ground-up custom residential construction — large-scale, high-complexity projects that demand the highest levels of precision and craft. A typical Epic project covers every stone and tile surface in the home: kitchens, bathrooms, fireplaces, bars, staircases, balconies, pool surrounds, exterior facades, and anywhere the indoor and outdoor spaces flow together. On a single custom build, that can mean sourcing and installing 70 to 100 different types of stone.

Where Epic Works: The Heart of Orange County Luxury

Epic’s primary markets are the most prestigious communities in Orange County: Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, and Dana Point. The team also works throughout Los Angeles County and has completed projects in San Diego, Hawaii, and nationally for specialty commercial clients requiring their unique expertise.

Project scale ranges from 5,000 to 40,000 square feet. Home values range from $10 million to over $100 million. The materials most often specified on Epic projects include marble, quartzite, limestone, and large-format porcelain.

Why Every Stone Contractor Is Not the Same

When asked what he wants every homeowner, builder, and designer in Southern California to understand about the stone and tile industry, Josiah is direct.

“Not all stone contractors are the same. You can get a steak at Ruth’s Chris or at Outback Steakhouse. They both come from a cow, but they are very different cuts of meat and very different experiences.”

In Orange County — and across Southern California — there are stone contractors who subcontract all their work, pay cash, and pursue the cheapest outcome every time. And there are those, like Epic, who refuse to cut a single corner.

Before hiring a stone and tile contractor for your project, Josiah recommends you ask:

• Are they licensed and fully insured?
• Are the people on site their employees or cash subcontractors?
• Can you visit an active job site or their fabrication shop?
• How do they template — are they still using wood sticks, or have they invested in digital precision?
• What does their track record look like for projects at the scale and quality level of yours?

Poor stone and tile work doesn’t just look bad. Failed waterproofing, improper installation, and substandard materials can lead to mold, structural damage, and remediation costs that far exceed the original contract. Taking the cheapest bid on the finishes of a $40 million home, Josiah says, is like sending your Ferrari to a $99 paint shop.

Leading the Pack: Technology, Innovation, and What’s Coming in June

Epic was among the first stone and tile contractors in Southern California to move to digital templating — a shift made 15 years ago when most competitors were still using wood sticks. Today, Epic uses a 12K-resolution slab scanner that creates fully interactive 3D renderings, letting clients visualize exactly how their actual slabs will appear in their actual kitchen, shower, or bath — before a single cut is made.

This June, Epic will take delivery of a machine unlike anything else currently available on the West Coast. A water-based surface texturing system capable of creating entirely new dimensions and finishes on stone — custom leathering, unique surface relief, and bespoke treatments that currently must be imported from overseas and can take months to arrive.

“People love new, unique finishes,” Josiah explains. “This machine will allow us to create completely bespoke environments for clients. Everything can be completely unique to them. And no one else on the West Coast has this machine.”

The investment: $400,000. The return: a competitive moat that no other Orange County stone contractor can cross.

The Project That Defines the Standard: Dana Point, $60–70 Million

Currently nearing completion on the waterfront in Dana Point is the project that best illustrates what Epic is capable of. A $60–70 million custom home designed by Errol de Jager — one of the most celebrated designers in Southern California. The exterior facade: vein-cut travertine, designed so that the entire four-story building appears, from the street, to be wrapped in a single continuous piece of stone.

To achieve this, every slab had to be quarried, cut sequentially, numbered, dry-laid at the overseas factory, photographed, shipped, and then hand-assembled on site like a massive, irreplaceable puzzle — across thousands of square feet, climbing four stories.

“He personally called me at least twice to say he can’t believe how it turned out. When you get a job that could go wrong in so many different aspects and it exceeds even his expectations — that’s a special feeling.”

This is the standard Epic sets — and keeps — on every project.

The Team Orange County’s Best Builders Trust With Their Own Homes

Epic doesn’t advertise. The company’s reputation is built entirely on the quality of its work and the depth of its relationships. In the last three to four years alone, Epic has completed the personal homes of five or six of Orange County’s largest custom home builders — and the personal residences of at least three of the most prominent architects in the county.

“When these guys came time to build their own homes,” Josiah says, “they could have chosen anyone. One of the architects told me: ‘It can only be Epic. You’re the only one I would trust in my home.’ That means everything.”

Most Epic clients come from general contractor relationships cultivated over years. Interior designers frequently call on Epic for their highest-profile projects. And increasingly, homeowners who have followed Epic on social media come in already knowing who they want.