Wender·Vista
Montauk Camp Hero bluffs
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileNew York
on the eastern tip of Long Island, just west of the lighthouse

Montauk Camp Hero bluffs

— — a coast still listening for something.

— 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 bluffs east of Montauk village, where the Atlantic comes hard against a sandy cliff and a derelict radar tower stands above the pines. Camp Hero was a coastal artillery base during the war, then a Cold War listening station; it's a state park now, with mountain-bike trails through the scrub oak and the old radar dish that never quite came down.

from the studio
Montauk Camp Hero bluffs
— bring it home

Montauk Camp Hero bluffs, 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 Montauk Camp Hero bluffs

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

Camp Hero State Park covers 415 acres on the eastern tip of Long Island, immediately west of the Montauk Point Lighthouse. The site was a coastal-defense fort during World War II, with battery buildings disguised as a New England fishing village to confuse German submarine spotters, and later an Air Force station running the AN/FPS-35 long-range radar through the Cold War. It was transferred to New York State in 2002 and opened to hiking, fishing, and surf-casting.

— the stone

The bluffs are glacial outwash from the Ronkonkoma moraine — sand, cobble, and erratic boulders laid down by retreating ice roughly 20,000 years ago. The Atlantic is taking them back at about one to two feet per year on average, and the lighthouse three quarters of a mile east has been moved inland twice since 1796. Half-buried concrete gun batteries from 1942 sit at the bluff edge, slowly going over with the sand.

— the air

The radar tower — a 126-foot AN/FPS-35 with its 70-ton dish still in place — was decommissioned in 1981 and is one of the last of its kind standing in the United States. It is closed to climbers and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The tower has fed decades of local legend, the so-called Montauk Project that Stranger Things drew on; what's actually there now is a quiet field, a lot of wind, and gulls.

— informed by Wikipedia · AN/FPS-35
— where
United States · Montauk, Suffolk County, New York
— within
Camp Hero State Park
— position
41.0707° N · 71.8717° 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.
1 km E
Montauk Point Lighthouse
active lighthouse
10 km W
Montauk village
fishing village
8 km W
Ditch Plains
surf break
18 km W
Hither Hills State Park
state park
N
Montauk Camp Hero bluffs
Montauk Point Lighthouse
Montauk village
Ditch Plains
Hither Hills State Park
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Montauk Camp Hero bluffs — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Camp Hero was transferred from the federal government to New York State in 2002 and opened to the public as a 415-acre state park. It is administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation.

The AN/FPS-35 was a Cold War long-range air-defense radar installed in the late 1950s and decommissioned in 1981. It was one node in the SAGE early-warning network and is now one of the last of its model still standing.

During World War II the Army built Camp Hero's battery buildings to look like a New England fishing village from the air — pitched roofs, false dormers, and church-shaped towers — to disguise the coastal gun emplacements from German reconnaissance.

Yes. The park is open year-round for hiking, mountain biking, surf-casting, and birdwatching. The radar tower itself is closed to climbing. A small parking fee applies in summer; the bluff trails are free to walk.

Camp Hero State Park sits at the eastern tip of Long Island in Montauk, New York, immediately west of the Montauk Point Lighthouse. It is about 120 miles east of Manhattan, at the end of Route 27.

— about the piece in your home

It's been a meaningful gift for customers with Montauk ties — surfers from Ditch Plains, summer regulars, and locals who walk the bluff trails in the off-season. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note carries well.

The Atlantic greys, pine greens, and rust on the old radar read well in coastal-modern, weathered-nautical, and quiet industrial palettes. It also sits comfortably in a room built around oak, linen, and matte black.

Atlantic light, weathered concrete, and salt-pine textures are the elements coastal-modern rooms lean on, and the artwork picks them up. A Large above a sofa or driftwood console reads as anchor, not seasonal.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large is the easiest answer. For a longer console or a wider wall, a 4-tile Mural reads with more presence; a 9-tile Mural is the choice for a full feature wall.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and built for vertical installation behind a sink or in a shower. The Glossy finish is best kept to dry rooms.

A microfibre cloth with water is enough. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure and lives beneath the finish, so there is nothing on top to scrub off.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio in Knoxville. We don't license stock art and we don't reprint other photographers. The eye is Reid Wender's, the hand-finishing is in-house.

— if this one stayed with you

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