Wender·Vista
Riverside
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
in the Inland Empire, east of Los Angeles

Riverside

— — the city the orange built.

— 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

“Riverside grew up around a navel orange. In 1873 a pair of cuttings arrived from Brazil and went into the ground on Magnolia Avenue. The trees took, the fruit was seedless, and the citrus boom that followed paid for the wide downtown streets and the long arcades of the Mission Inn. One of the original two trees is still alive, fenced and looked after, on a corner where a freeway off-ramp goes past. from the studio

from the studio
Riverside
— bring it home

Riverside, 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 Riverside

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

Riverside is the seat of Riverside County in inland Southern California, about 90 kilometres east of downtown Los Angeles on the Santa Ana River. The city sits at roughly 268 metres elevation against the small ranges of the Box Springs and Jurupa Mountains, with a 2020 census population of about 314,000. Founded in 1870 by John W. North and a group of Eastern investors, the town was planned around a wide central avenue and irrigated by water drawn from the river that gives the city its name.

— the year

Riverside is the birthplace of the California citrus industry. In 1873 Eliza Tibbets received two Washington navel orange cuttings from the USDA, originally from Bahia, Brazil, and planted them on her property. The trees produced a seedless winter orange that flourished in the local soil, and the resulting orchards made Riverside the wealthiest city per capita in the United States by 1895. One of the original Parent Navel Orange Trees still grows at the corner of Magnolia and Arlington and is registered as California Historical Landmark No. 20.

— the stone

The Mission Inn anchors downtown. Begun in 1876 as a small adobe boarding house, it was expanded by Frank Miller from 1902 into a Mission Revival landmark covering an entire city block, with arches, flying buttresses, a five-storey rotunda, and a chapel filled with antiques from Europe and Mexico. Eight U.S. presidents have stayed there. The hotel hosts a Festival of Lights from late November through early January, lit by more than five million bulbs.

— informed by Mission Inn Hotel & Spa
— where
United States · Riverside, California
— elevation
268 m · 879 ft
— position
33.9533° N · 117.3962° 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.
2 km W
Mount Rubidoux
city park hill
5 km E
UC Riverside
research university
8 km S
California Citrus State Historic Park
working orange grove
N
Riverside
Mount Rubidoux
UC Riverside
California Citrus State Historic Park
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Riverside sits in inland Southern California, about 90 kilometres east of downtown Los Angeles. It is the seat of Riverside County and the largest city of the Inland Empire region, at roughly 268 metres elevation along the Santa Ana River.

In 1873 Eliza Tibbets planted two Washington navel orange cuttings sent by the USDA from Bahia, Brazil. The trees thrived, the fruit was seedless, and the orchards that followed founded California's commercial citrus industry.

Yes. One of the two Parent Navel Orange Trees still grows at the corner of Magnolia and Arlington avenues and is California Historical Landmark No. 20. The second tree died in the early twentieth century after being moved.

The Mission Inn is a Mission Revival hotel that takes up an entire downtown block. Frank Miller expanded the original adobe inn from 1902 into a complex of arches, towers, and a chapel of European antiques. Eight U.S. presidents have stayed there.

The Mission Inn Festival of Lights runs from the day after Thanksgiving through early January each year. The hotel and surrounding blocks are decorated with more than five million bulbs and a switch-on ceremony draws large crowds.

Riverside has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. Summer highs often reach 36°C with dry air, winters are mild with most of the year's 250 millimetres of rain falling between November and March.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for graduates of UC Riverside, citrus-industry families, and people who grew up on the loop around Mount Rubidoux. A Small or Medium with a note from the studio carries well.

The orange-grove greens and Mission-stucco warmth read well with California Craftsman, Spanish Revival, and warm minimalist rooms. It pairs cleanly with terracotta tile, dark walnut, and unbleached linen.

Yes. California modern leans on warm whites, citrus and earth tones, and one anchoring artwork against quiet walls. The tile gives that approach the local detail it usually misses.

Above a standard sofa the single Large reads well at eye-line. Above a long console or in an open entry, a 4-tile Mural carries the room. The 9-tile Mural is built for a feature wall.

Yes. Choose the Dura Satin finish for showers and backsplashes, or the Matte finish for a softer kitchen wall. Both are scratch-resistant and hold up to humidity.

A soft microfibre cloth with water is enough for ordinary dust and fingerprints. For a kitchen install, a mild dish soap on the cloth is fine. No abrasives.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in the studio's stained-glass and alcohol-ink visual language and slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure. No licensing, no third-party stock.

— if this one stayed with you

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