Wender·Vista
Newby-McMahon Building
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
in downtown Wichita Falls, north Texas

Newby-McMahon Building

— — the skyscraper the blueprint shrank to inches.

— 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 four-storey brick tower at Seventh and La Salle in downtown Wichita Falls. In 1919, the promoter J. D. McMahon raised about two hundred thousand dollars from oil-boom investors who took the plans for granted; the dimensions were drawn in inches, not feet, and the finished building stood roughly forty feet tall on a footprint of ten by eighteen. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. — from the studio

from the studio
Newby-McMahon Building
— bring it home

Newby-McMahon Building, 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 Newby-McMahon Building

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 Newby-McMahon Building stands at the corner of Seventh and La Salle Streets in downtown Wichita Falls, in north Texas, about fifteen miles south of the Oklahoma border. It is widely called the world's littlest skyscraper. The building rises four storeys to roughly forty feet on a footprint of about ten feet by eighteen feet. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, listed under the city's downtown historic district, and is still standing on its original lot a century after it was built.

— the year

Wichita Falls was a boom town in 1919, riding the Burkburnett oil strike of 1918, and downtown office space was scarce. The promoter J. D. McMahon raised about two hundred thousand dollars by selling shares in a planned high-rise annex to the existing Newby Building. The blueprints were drawn and approved without correction. Investors took the dimensions to be in feet; McMahon had drawn them in inches. The finished building came in at roughly one four-hundred-and-eightieth of the volume the investors had read.

— the stone

The structure is brick and steel, four storeys tall, with a single window per floor on the long side and the original exterior ladder running up the back wall. Suit was brought against McMahon, but the courts found that the blueprints he had signed showed inches and that the investors had failed to read what they had bought. The building has changed hands several times since and houses ground-floor retail. The Texas State Historical Association keeps a short entry on it under its own name.

— where
United States · Wichita Falls, Texas
— position
33.9132° N · 98.4934° 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.
0.1 km N
Wichita Falls Downtown Historic District
historic district
1 km S
Wichita River
river
2 km W
Lucy Park
city park
N
Newby-McMahon Building
Wichita Falls Downtown Historic District
Wichita River
Lucy Park
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Newby-McMahon Building — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

A four-storey brick building at Seventh and La Salle in downtown Wichita Falls, Texas, widely called the world's littlest skyscraper. It stands roughly forty feet tall on a footprint of about ten by eighteen feet.

Because of its scale, and because of the story behind it. Oil-boom investors in 1919 thought they had funded a true high-rise, and were given instead a four-storey tower a fraction of the size they expected.

The promoter J. D. McMahon drew the blueprints in inches rather than feet. Investors who took the dimensions for feet put up roughly two hundred thousand dollars; the finished building came in at about one four-hundred-and-eightieth of the expected volume.

In 1919, during the Wichita Falls oil boom that followed the 1918 Burkburnett strike. It was originally planned as a high-rise annex to the existing Newby Building on the same lot.

Yes. The Newby-McMahon Building was added to the National Register in 2003, listed within the Wichita Falls downtown historic district. It is one of the most cited oddities of early Texas oil-boom architecture.

Yes. The building still stands at its original corner of Seventh and La Salle in downtown Wichita Falls, with ground-floor retail. It is best viewed from the street; there are no public tours of the upper floors.

— about the piece in your home

It has carried well for our customers with ties to north Texas. The littlest skyscraper is a point of local pride and a long-running story, and a Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio reads as considered.

The warm brick palette and clean tower form settle into Texas-modern, industrial-loft, and traditional library interiors. It also reads well as a single accent on a darker painted wall in an office or den.

Yes. Early twentieth-century industrial and oil-boom Americana has been a steady current in interior design, and the story behind the building gives it a conversation piece a print of a generic skyscraper does not carry.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large or a four-tile Mural reads well, and the vertical form of the building suits a tall stack. A nine-tile Mural works in a stairwell or a tall hallway.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish, which are scratch-resistant and made for vertical installation in wet rooms. The Glossy finish is meant for framed wall art in dry rooms.

A microfibre cloth and warm water. No solvents, no abrasive pads. The colour lives in the ceramic surface, so the finish is durable, but light cleaning is the rule.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is made in our family studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. The work is not licensed from any third party and is not sold anywhere outside the studio.

— if this one stayed with you

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