Wender·Vista
Exorcist steps
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
in Georgetown, between Prospect Street and the canal

Exorcist steps

— the staircase the city kept in shadow.

— 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

“A steep concrete staircase in Georgetown, running 75 steps down the cliff from Prospect Street NW to M Street and the C&O Canal. Built around 1895 alongside the Georgetown Car Barn. Famous as the climactic location in William Friedkin's 1973 film, and a District of Columbia landmark since 2015. Most evenings it is quiet: joggers, students, the occasional pilgrim with a camera.

from the studio
Exorcist steps
— bring it home

Exorcist steps, 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 Exorcist steps

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

The staircase climbs the bluff between Prospect Street NW and the lower roadbed of M Street and Canal Road in the Georgetown neighbourhood of Washington, DC. Seventy-five concrete steps in two flights, walled on both sides. It was built around 1895 in tandem with the Georgetown Car Barn next door, originally a trolley terminal. Foggy Bottom sits across Rock Creek to the east; the Potomac runs below. The steps were added to the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites on October 30, 2015.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the year

The steps became famous in late 1973, when William Friedkin's The Exorcist used them for Father Karras's death scene at the climax of the film. Friedkin had the steps padded with half-inch rubber for the fall and shot the stunt twice. The film opened December 26, 1973, and the location has drawn visitors continuously since. The DC landmark dedication on October 30, 2015 brought Friedkin and the novelist William Peter Blatty to the site for the plaque unveiling at the top of the stairs.

— the visit

The stairs are public and free, open at all hours, with no gate or guard. The approach from the top is via 36th Street NW and Prospect; from the bottom, via M Street near the Key Bridge underpass. The Georgetown Car Barn shoulder is the photographable vantage; the lower entrance is narrow and easy to miss. Halloween and the two weeks before it draw the largest crowds; January and February are nearly empty. The Foundry Branch trolley line the Car Barn once served closed in 1962.

— where
United States · Georgetown, Washington, DC
— position
38.9043° N · 77.0729° 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.
at the lake
Georgetown Car Barn
historic trolley terminal
at the lake
Key Bridge
Potomac River bridge
1 km W
Georgetown University
university
at the lake
C&O Canal
historic canal
N
Exorcist steps
Georgetown Car Barn
Key Bridge
Georgetown University
C&O Canal
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Exorcist steps — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

In Georgetown, Washington DC, climbing the bluff from M Street and the C&O Canal up to 3600 Prospect Street NW, beside the Georgetown Car Barn. The Key Bridge is two minutes west on foot.

Seventy-five concrete steps in two flights, walled on both sides. The drop from top to bottom is steeper than nearly any other public exterior stair in Washington, which is why the stunt fall worked on camera.

Around 1895, alongside the Georgetown Car Barn next door. The barn was the western terminus of the Washington trolley system; the stairs were the pedestrian shortcut from upper Georgetown down to the river road.

The climactic scene where Father Karras throws himself out the bedroom window of the MacNeil house and falls down the steps to his death. The bedroom set was attached to the building at the top of the stairs for the shoot.

Yes. The District of Columbia added the steps to its Inventory of Historic Sites on October 30, 2015. Director William Friedkin and novelist William Peter Blatty attended the dedication at the top.

Halloween and the two weeks before it draw the largest crowds. January and February are nearly empty. The film's anniversary in late December also brings small groups, especially after dark.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The staircase is one of the most recognisable corners of Georgetown for anyone who studied at GU. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio reads well as a graduation or milestone gift.

The palette here runs to wet stone, ivy green, and lamp-amber. It suits dark academia, jewel-tone maximalism, and warm mid-century rooms, and plays well against panelled wood or deep painted walls.

The cool-stone and deep-green palette sits cleanly inside the dark academia direction bookshelf-led interiors have moved toward over the past three years. The Large hangs well above a desk or a leather chair.

A single Large covers most sofas. For a wider wall, a 4-tile Mural reads as one piece from across the room; the 9-tile Mural is the over-fireplace scale.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte. Both are scratch- and moisture-resistant and tested for showers and backsplashes. Glossy is for framed wall pieces away from steam.

A soft microfibre cloth and warm water. No ceramic cleaner, no abrasive pad. The colour is infused into the surface, not painted on top, so it does not lift with cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in-house by Reid Wender and finished in our Knoxville studio. We do not license the work and there is no second source.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

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