Wender·Vista
Citadel Pueblo Wupatki
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileArizona
on a limestone knoll north of Flagstaff

Citadel Pueblo Wupatki

— — the village the high ground kept.

— 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.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Citadel Pueblo sits on a small limestone hill in Wupatki, about forty miles north of Flagstaff. Ancestral Puebloans built it around 1100, ringing the summit with masonry rooms above a natural sinkhole. The view from the top runs to the San Francisco Peaks one way and the Painted Desert the other. The walls have stood for roughly eight hundred years. from the studio

from the studio
Citadel Pueblo Wupatki
— bring it home

Citadel Pueblo Wupatki, 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.

— about Citadel Pueblo Wupatki

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

Wupatki National Monument covers 35,422 acres in Coconino County, Arizona, about forty miles north of Flagstaff. President Calvin Coolidge designated it in 1924 to protect a cluster of ancestral Puebloan masonry villages built after the nearby Sunset Crater eruption around 1085. Citadel Pueblo sits along the loop road that joins Wupatki with Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, on a low limestone knoll overlooking a natural sinkhole. The monument is co-stewarded with the Hopi, Zuni, and other descendant communities.

— informed by NPS — Wupatki, Wikipedia
— the stone

The pueblo holds roughly fifty rooms of coursed Moenkopi sandstone and Kaibab limestone, built directly on the knoll's bedrock cap so the masonry rises out of the stone it stands on. The siting is defensive and signalled: from the rooftops, line of sight reaches Lomaki Pueblo, Box Canyon, and the larger Wupatki Pueblo on the plain below. Tree-ring dates and ceramic styles place primary occupation between roughly 1100 and 1250, after which the residents moved on to the Hopi Mesas and the Little Colorado.

— informed by NPS — Citadel Pueblo
— the visit

Citadel Pueblo is reached on the thirty-five-mile loop that connects US-89 with Wupatki and Sunset Crater Volcano. A short paved trail from the parking pull-off climbs to a viewpoint near the base of the knoll; the pueblo itself is not entered, in keeping with the descendant communities' guidance. Entrance is $25 per vehicle, valid seven days for both monuments. The visitor centre near Wupatki Pueblo has water and restrooms; nothing else is sold along the loop.

— informed by NPS — Fees and Passes
— where
United States · Coconino County, Arizona
— within
Wupatki National Monument
— elevation
1,494 m · 4,900 ft
— position
35.5717° N · 111.4544° 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.
14 km SE
Wupatki Pueblo
ancestral pueblo
35 km S
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
national monument
30 km E
Painted Desert
desert
60 km SW
San Francisco Peaks
mountain range
N
Citadel Pueblo Wupatki
Wupatki Pueblo
Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
Painted Desert
San Francisco Peaks
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Citadel Pueblo Wupatki — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

An ancestral Puebloan masonry village of roughly fifty rooms, built around 1100 on a limestone knoll inside Wupatki National Monument. The siting gave the residents line of sight to several other pueblos on the plain below.

Ancestral Puebloan peoples whose descendants today include the Hopi and Zuni and other Pueblo nations. Construction followed the 1085 Sunset Crater eruption, which deposited ash that improved local soil moisture retention.

Tree-ring dating and ceramic typology place primary occupation between roughly 1100 and 1250, after which residents moved north and east to the Hopi Mesas and the Little Colorado River drainage.

Take the Wupatki-Sunset Crater loop road off US-89, about forty miles north of Flagstaff. A short paved trail from the Citadel pull-off leads to a viewpoint at the base of the knoll.

Yes. Wupatki National Monument charges $25 per vehicle, valid for seven days. The same pass covers Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument on the other end of the loop road.

No. In keeping with guidance from the Hopi, Zuni, and other descendant communities, visitors stay on the trail and viewing platform. The walls are stabilised but not restored, and the site remains a living cultural place.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Wupatki is one of the signature pueblo sites of the southern plateau, and the Citadel silhouette is recognisable to anyone who has driven the loop. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note carries well.

The warm sandstone and indigo-shadow palette suits Southwest-modern, Pueblo-revival, and earth-toned Minimalist rooms. It carries well against natural plaster, oak, and matte black metal.

Yes. Organic-modern leans on stone, plaster, and earth pigments, and the Citadel palette sits inside that range. The Large above a console works as a quiet stone-tone anchor.

Above a standard sofa, choose a single Large or a four-tile Mural. Above a longer console, a nine-tile Mural reads as one continuous piece. A Medium suits a narrower wall.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both resist moisture and scratches and suit a backsplash, shower wall, or humid bathroom. The Glossy finish is reserved for framed display.

Microfibre cloth and water. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface under heat and pressure and sits beneath a thin glossy finish, so it cleans the way the tile does.

Yes. Reid Wender curates the WenderVista atlas and every piece is original to the studio. The work is hand-finished in Knoxville and never licensed from another publisher.

— if this one stayed with you

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