Maison Pfister

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.

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.

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

The Maison Pfister is a sixteenth-century corner house at 11 rue des Marchands in Colmar, Alsace. Built in 1537 for the hat maker Ludwig Scherer, it is regarded as the first example of Renaissance architecture in the city.

The house was completed in 1537 for Ludwig Scherer, a hat maker from Besançon who had made his fortune in the silver trade of the Val de Liepvre. The painted decoration on the facades was added forty years later, in 1577.

The building takes its name from the Pfister family, merchants who acquired it in 1841. It has since been owned by the Judlin family, in residence since 1892. The original builder was Ludwig Scherer; the Pfister name simply stuck.

The mural cycle was painted in 1577 by Christian Vacksterffer. It includes portraits of the sixteenth-century Holy Roman emperors, the four evangelists, scenes from the Book of Genesis, and the coats of arms of Colmar and Upper Alsace.

The building is a private residence and is not open to the public. The facades, however, are fully visible from the rue des Marchands at any hour. The pedestrianised old town makes a slow walk around the corner the natural way to see it.

The Maison Pfister stands at 11 rue des Marchands in the historic old town of Colmar, in the Haut-Rhin département of Alsace. It is a short walk from the Collégiale Saint-Martin, the Koïfhus customs house, and the canals of La Petite Venise.

Yes. The Maison Pfister was classified as a Monument Historique on 14 March 1927. The most recent restoration of the painted facade was completed in 2012, refreshing details that had weathered over four centuries.

It has been a meaningful gift for our customers with Alsatian family. The Maison Pfister is one of the symbols of old Colmar; anyone who has walked the rue des Marchands recognises the corner. A Coaster or Small with a handwritten note from the studio travels well in a card.

The artwork's warm sandstone golds, painted reds, and aged wood tones sit naturally in French Country and Old World Eclectic interiors. It also reads beautifully in Maximalist rooms that lean into history, and against a clean Mountain-Modern wall where the colour can carry the room on its own.

The current revival of French Country and Old-World Maximalism brings hand-painted, history-rich pieces back into the centre of the room. The Maison Pfister tile reads as both heritage and modern, since the studio's stained-glass painting treatment refracts the original Renaissance murals through a more saturated palette.

Above a standard three-seat sofa, a single Large carries the wall on its own. For a stronger statement, a four-tile Mural sits well in the same footprint. Above a console table, a Medium centred above the surface is the most common choice.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so steam and splash do not affect it. The Glossy finish is reserved for show-pieces and framed wall art away from direct water.

A soft microfibre cloth and plain water are all the tile needs. No solvents, no scouring pads, no glass cleaner. The colour lives in the surface, beneath a thin protective layer, so wiping is gentle housekeeping rather than restoration.

Yes. The painting is by Reid Wender, the studio's curator and eye, made in our family studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. We do not license or resell other artists' work. The whole atlas of places, from Alsace to Aoraki, is hand-built one tile at a time.