Wender·Vista
Many Glacier Hotel on Swiftcurrent Lake
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileMontana
on the east shore of Swiftcurrent Lake, in Glacier National Park

Many Glacier Hotel on Swiftcurrent Lake

— — a Swiss chalet that walked across an ocean.

— 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

“The hotel runs long and low along the lake, four storeys of dark timber under a steep green roof. Swiftcurrent Lake holds the peaks behind it: Grinnell Point, Mount Wilbur, Mount Gould stacked into the sky. Loons call across the water in the morning; the boat to Lake Josephine ties up at the dock just below the porch. The Great Northern built the hotel in 1914 and 1915 to bring American travellers to an Alps of their own. The light at the end of the day goes the colour of old brass. from the studio

from the studio
Many Glacier Hotel on Swiftcurrent Lake
— bring it home

Many Glacier Hotel on Swiftcurrent Lake, 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 Many Glacier Hotel on Swiftcurrent Lake

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

Many Glacier Hotel stands on the east shore of Swiftcurrent Lake in the Many Glacier valley of Glacier National Park, in Glacier County, Montana. Construction ran from 1914 to 1915 under the Great Northern Railway, whose president Louis W. Hill drove the hotel-building program that opened the eastern side of the park to rail travellers. The site sits at about 4,888 feet of elevation, framed on the west by Grinnell Point, Mount Wilbur, and Mount Gould. The hotel was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987 as the largest of the railway's Swiss-chalet-style park lodges.

— the water

Swiftcurrent Lake is one in a chain of small glacier-fed lakes that drain east from the Continental Divide through the Many Glacier valley toward the Saint Mary River. The water reads the same cold turquoise as Lake McDonald and Two Medicine, the colour of rock flour suspended in glacial meltwater. A short canal connects Swiftcurrent to Lake Josephine, and the historic wooden tour boats Chief Two Guns and Morning Eagle still work the run, the latter built in 1945. Common loons nest on the lake; their tremolo is part of the soundscape at dawn and at dusk.

— the visit

Many Glacier is reached from US Highway 89 at Babb, on the Blackfeet Reservation, by way of a twelve-mile spur into the park. The hotel operates seasonally, generally from mid-June through mid-September, with shoulder closures depending on snow and staffing. There are 214 guest rooms; reservations open about thirteen months ahead and fill quickly. Trailheads at the hotel feed the routes to Iceberg Lake, Grinnell Glacier, and Cracker Lake. The road in is the only road in; once the park's east side closes for winter, the valley returns to itself.

— informed by NPS – Many Glacier
— where
United States · Glacier County, Montana / Glacier National Park
— within
Glacier National Park
— elevation
1,490 m · 4,888 ft
— position
48.7972° N · 113.6586° 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
Swiftcurrent Lake
glacial lake
8 km SW
Grinnell Glacier
glacier
1 km SW
Lake Josephine
glacial lake
8 km NW
Iceberg Lake
cirque lake
N
Many Glacier Hotel on Swiftcurrent Lake
Swiftcurrent Lake
Grinnell Glacier
Lake Josephine
Iceberg Lake
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Many Glacier Hotel on Swiftcurrent Lake — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Built by the Great Northern Railway from 1914 to 1915 under company president Louis W. Hill, as part of a chain of Swiss-chalet-style lodges meant to draw American rail passengers to the eastern side of Glacier National Park.

On the east shore of Swiftcurrent Lake in the Many Glacier valley, in Glacier County, Montana, at about 4,888 feet of elevation. Grinnell Point, Mount Wilbur, and Mount Gould frame the view across the lake.

The Great Northern marketed Glacier as the American Alps and built its hotels in a Swiss-chalet idiom: dark timber, steep gabled roofs, balconies, and exposed bracketing. Many Glacier is the largest of those lodges.

Yes. The hotel was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, recognized as the largest surviving example of the Great Northern's chalet-style park architecture and a defining piece of Glacier's east-side history.

The hotel has 214 guest rooms across a long four-storey timber structure, with a wing extending along the lakeshore. The lobby rises through the building's full height around a central fireplace.

The hotel operates seasonally, typically from mid-June through mid-September. The exact opening and closing dates shift each year with snowpack, road clearing on the east side, and staffing.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Many Glacier is the picture longtime park visitors carry of the east side. A Medium or Large with a note from the studio lands well for anniversaries tied to a stay at the hotel.

The dark timber and lake-turquoise palette sits well in mountain-modern, lodge, and warm minimalist rooms. It also reads gracefully against natural oak, leather, and oiled walnut.

Yes. The current lodge-modern direction leans on a single landscape anchor over busy gallery walls. A Large above a stone or timber mantel holds the room without crowding it.

A single Large covers most sofas and consoles. For wider walls, a 4-tile Mural reads as a window onto the lake; a 9-tile Mural turns the hotel into the room's horizon.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle steam and splash, which suits backsplashes, powder rooms, and shower surrounds.

A soft microfibre cloth with water handles dust and fingerprints. For kitchen splatter, a drop of mild dish soap on the cloth is enough; no abrasives, no ammonia, no melamine pads.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio, curated by Reid Wender, and produced in-house. The work is not licensed from outside artists or sold under other labels.

— if this one stayed with you

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