Wender·Vista
Lyme Common with churches
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileNew Hampshire
in the Upper Valley above the Connecticut River

Lyme Common with churches

— — the white the village keeps painting back.

— 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 long village common in the Upper Valley, a few miles north of Dartmouth, with the Lyme Congregational Church on the rise above it. The church went up in 1812 and still keeps its row of horse sheds, twenty-seven bays running off the back, one of the last sets standing in New Hampshire. White clapboard, black shutters, the bell ringing for funerals and the Fourth.

from the studio
Lyme Common with churches
— bring it home

Lyme Common with churches, 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 Lyme Common with churches

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

Lyme sits along NH Route 10 in Grafton County, about ten miles north of Hanover and the Dartmouth campus. The town was chartered in 1761, and the long village common climbs gently from the road to the meetinghouse hill above. The Connecticut River runs the western boundary; Smarts Mountain and the Appalachian Trail run the eastern. The population is just over seventeen hundred. The common itself, the church, and the surrounding houses make up the Lyme Common Historic District, listed on the National Register since 1975.

— the stone

The Lyme Congregational Church was raised in 1812, replacing an earlier meetinghouse, and the steeple was added the following year. The building still keeps its long row of horse sheds running off the rear of the common, twenty-seven bays in a connected line. The sheds are among the very few surviving sets in New Hampshire and were restored in 1991. The white clapboard and black shutters of the surrounding Federal and Greek Revival houses set the visual key for the whole district.

— the year

The common runs the village year. The Fourth of July brings flags along the picket fence and a small parade up the hill. Hayfields turn around the church in late August. The maples on the green colour the first week of October. Christmas Eve fills the meetinghouse with candles, the bell rung at the close of the service. Town Meeting falls on the second Tuesday of March, in the basement of the same building, as it has since the early nineteenth century.

— informed by Town of Lyme, NH
— where
United States · Lyme, Grafton County, New Hampshire
— position
43.8073° N · 72.1556° 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.
16 km S
Hanover
town
16 km S
Dartmouth College
college
3 km W
Connecticut River
river
N
Lyme Common with churches
Hanover
Dartmouth College
Connecticut River
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Lyme Common with churches — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

About ten miles north of Hanover and Dartmouth College, along NH Route 10 in Grafton County. The Connecticut River runs the town's western boundary, with Vermont sitting across the water.

The meetinghouse was raised in 1812 and the steeple added the following year. It is the third meetinghouse on the common and remains the village's most prominent building.

A connected row of twenty-seven bays, built so families driving in by sleigh or carriage could shelter their horses through the service. The Lyme set is one of the last standing in New Hampshire.

Yes. The Lyme Common Historic District, including the church, sheds, common, and surrounding houses, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and remains so today.

Roughly the first week of October on the common itself. The hills behind colour a few days earlier; the river valley below holds on a few days longer.

— about the piece in your home

It has been. The common is a touchstone for the town, and graduates of Dartmouth often recognise the steeple from the drive north. A Medium reads well in a study; a Small carries on a bookshelf.

New England Farmhouse, Federal, and quieter Traditional rooms hold it best. The white-and-black architecture sits comfortably with painted wood, oriental rugs, brass lamps, and unfussy linen.

Yes. The recent return to Federal and Grandmillennial palettes has put white-and-black New England architecture back into magazines, and a steepled-common tile reads cleanly in both.

A Large reads above a console or above a fireplace in a colonial home. Above a sofa, a 4-tile Mural carries the width; a 9-tile Mural anchors a larger wall.

Yes. Order it in Dura Satin for a backsplash or shower wall, or Matte for a powder room. The colour lives in the surface and does not lift in steam.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. No abrasive sponges, no glass cleaner, no bleach. The thin glossy finish wipes clean and the colour underneath does not shift.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in-house by Reid Wender, the curator, and slowly infused into the ceramic under high heat and pressure. Single studio, no licensing.

— if this one stayed with you

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