Wender·Vista
Chateau-sur-Mer Stick Style facade
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileRhode Island
on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island

Chateau-sur-Mer Stick Style facade

— the house that taught Newport to build bigger.

Rhode Island wall art on a ceramic tile, made to order
from $22
Finished by hand in Knoxville. Free US shipping over $75, on your wall in about ten days. Damaged in transit? Free replacement within 30 days; other returns within 30 days. Returns · Contact
Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
In the living room, above the sofa.
In the living room, above the sofa.
Beside the kettle, propped on the counter.
Beside the kettle, propped on the counter.
On the nightstand, catching the morning.
On the nightstand, catching the morning.
In the entryway, first thing you see.
In the entryway, first thing you see.
A quiet corner of the bath.
A quiet corner of the bath.
shown in a slim black floating frame · 6 × 6 in
shown in a slim black floating frame · 6 × 6 in
— bring it home

Chateau-sur-Mer Stick Style facade, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

comes gift-ready
comes gift-ready

Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.

or build a grouping
or build a grouping

Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.

a note from the studio

The first of the Bellevue Avenue summer palaces, set well back behind a deep lawn and a low stone wall. Granite below, decorative woodwork above, the High Victorian eclecticism Richard Morris Hunt brought back from his Paris years pulled across the facade in mansard roof, bracketed eaves, and porches edged in carpenter detail. Built for a China-trade fortune, lived in for almost a century by one family. The trees on the lawn are nearly as old as the house. from the studio

from the studio
about Chateau-sur-Mer Stick Style facade

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
the place

Chateau-sur-Mer sits on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, the earliest of the great Bellevue summer houses. It was completed in 1852 to designs by Seth C. Bradford for William Shepard Wetmore, a merchant who made his fortune in the China trade. Wetmore's son George Peabody Wetmore, later a United States senator from Rhode Island, hired Richard Morris Hunt in the early 1870s for a major remodel that gave the house its current High Victorian character. The Preservation Society of Newport County has owned and operated the property since 1969, and it is a contributing building of the Bellevue Avenue Historic District, a National Historic Landmark.

the stone

The house is granite-walled below and richly worked above. Hunt's 1872 remodel added the mansard roof, the bracketed and carved eaves, the central tower, and the carpenter-detailed porches and overhangs that give the facade its layered, eclectic character. The interior carries the same density: a three-story central hall, painted ceilings by Luigi Frullini, and Eastlake-influenced woodwork. The deep lawn out front holds one of the most important private tree collections in nineteenth-century New England, including specimens dating to the 1850s grading by Frederick Law Olmsted's contemporary horticultural circles.

the visit

Chateau-sur-Mer is open to the public as a museum house under the Preservation Society of Newport County. It typically opens in late spring and runs through the New Year, with the Society's noted Christmas-at-the-Newport-Mansions decoration program running from late November into early January. Tickets are sold individually or as part of a multi-mansion pass that also covers The Breakers, The Elms, Marble House, and Rosecliff. The site is on Bellevue Avenue a short distance from the cliff-side Newport Cliff Walk and a few minutes from the harbour and downtown.

where
United States · Newport, Rhode Island
position
41.4720° N · 71.3050° W
the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
0.8 km E
The Breakers
vanderbilt mansion
0.4 km N
The Elms
berwind mansion
1 km S
Marble House
vanderbilt mansion
0.6 km E
Newport Cliff Walk
coastal trail
N
Chateau-sur-Mer Stick Style facade
The Breakers
The Elms
Marble House
Newport Cliff Walk
common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Chateau-sur-Mer Stick Style facade — and about bringing the piece home.
about the place

The original house was completed in 1852 for William Shepard Wetmore, a China-trade merchant. Richard Morris Hunt remodeled it in 1872 for Wetmore's son George Peabody Wetmore, giving the house its current High Victorian character.

Seth C. Bradford designed the original 1852 house. Richard Morris Hunt's 1872 remodel added the mansard roof, the bracketed eaves, the central tower, and the carpenter-detailed porches and overhangs of the current facade.

The Wetmore family lived in the house for nearly a century. George Peabody Wetmore, a United States senator from Rhode Island, was the longest-tenured resident. His daughter Edith deeded it for sale in 1968 to what became the Preservation Society.

On Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, a short distance south of downtown and a few hundred yards from the Atlantic-facing Newport Cliff Walk. It is the first major mansion encountered driving south down Bellevue.

Yes. Chateau-sur-Mer is operated as a museum house by the Preservation Society of Newport County, with tours generally available from late spring through the New Year, including the annual Christmas-at-the-Newport-Mansions program.

Yes. It is a contributing building of the Bellevue Avenue Historic District in Newport, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 for its concentration of Gilded Age summer architecture.

about the piece in your home

It carries well for Newport regulars, Preservation Society members, and anyone drawn to Gilded Age architecture. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio reads as a chosen piece rather than a souvenir.

The granite greys, mansard slate, and warm woodwork tones sit cleanly in Traditional, Grandmillennial, and Dark Academia rooms. Also strong against a warm white wall in a more pared-back room with antique furniture.

Grandmillennial and refined-traditional palettes have held strong for several seasons. The piece reads as a Newport house specifically, which is what gives it weight in a more curated traditional room.

Over a console table, a single Large reads correctly. Over a standard sofa, a 4-tile Mural anchors the wall, and over a long sectional or sideboard a 9-tile Mural gives the facade the horizontal room it needs.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any vertical install in a kitchen, bath, or mudroom. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface and holds against steam and splash.

A soft microfibre cloth and plain water. No abrasive cleaners, no ammonia. The colour lives inside the ceramic surface beneath a thin glossy finish, so the wipe is just for dust.

Yes. The piece is original to Wender Studios in Knoxville, Tennessee. Curated by Reid Wender, hand-finished in-house, no licensing.

if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.
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on the east shore of Block Island, above Old Harbor
Block Island Crescent Beach
— the long curve the Atlantic left for the morning.
Block Island Rodman's Hollow
on the south end of Block Island, off Cooneymus Road
Block Island Rodman's Hollow
— a glacial bowl the island chose to keep.
Misquamicut Beach
on the south coast of Westerly
Misquamicut Beach
— the long open sand the state leaves alone.
Narragansett Town Beach
on the South County coast, an hour south of Providence
Narragansett Town Beach
— the long flat hush of an Atlantic afternoon.
Sakonnet Point Lighthouse offshore
off Little Compton's southern tip, at the mouth of the Sakonnet River
Sakonnet Point Lighthouse offshore
a cast iron light on a rock the sea forgot to take.
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