Wender·Vista
Simon Pearce Glass Mill Quechee
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileVermont
in Quechee village, above the Ottauquechee falls

Simon Pearce Glass Mill Quechee

— — the colour of molten glass cooling against river light.

— 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 nineteenth-century wool mill on the lip of a small falls, now a glassmaking studio. The river still turns a hydro turbine that runs the furnaces. Downstairs the gaffers work in front of visitors; upstairs the dining room looks across to the covered bridge. People come for one piece of glass and leave with a memory of the water sound.

from the studio
Simon Pearce Glass Mill Quechee
— bring it home

Simon Pearce Glass Mill Quechee, 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 Simon Pearce Glass Mill Quechee

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

Simon Pearce settled the old downtown wool mill in Quechee village in 1981, restoring a brick building dating to the 1830s on the Ottauquechee River. The mill sits directly above a small dam, and a hydroelectric turbine on site powers the glass furnaces below the showroom floor. Quechee is part of the town of Hartford, Windsor County, about five miles west of the Connecticut River. The studio shares the village with the Quechee covered bridge, rebuilt after Tropical Storm Irene tore through it in August 2011.

— the water

Below the showroom a low arc of dam sends the Ottauquechee over a short drop. The same water runs the turbine that heats the furnaces, believed to be the only hydro-powered glassblowing studio in the United States. A mile downstream the river enters Quechee Gorge, a 165-foot chasm cut by glacial meltwater near the end of the last ice age, now spanned by the U.S. Route 4 bridge. The sound at the mill is constant: water moving, glass tapping, the small thump of a wooden block shaping a hot gather.

— the visit

The mill opens daily from ten in the morning, with the glassblowing floor visible from a balcony at no charge. The restaurant above takes reservations and serves lunch and dinner from a menu that leans on Vermont farms. Seconds, pieces with small flaws, sell from a downstairs room at a discount. Parking is free on the village green. Quechee Gorge State Park sits a mile east on Route 4 with a marked trail down to the river.

— where
United States · Quechee, Hartford, Windsor County, Vermont
— position
43.6536° N · 72.4099° 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 E
Quechee Gorge
river chasm
at the lake
Quechee covered bridge
covered bridge
10 km W
Woodstock village green
Vermont village
N
Simon Pearce Glass Mill Quechee
Quechee Gorge
Quechee covered bridge
Woodstock village green
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Simon Pearce Glass Mill Quechee — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Hand-blown glassware and pottery, made on site since 1981. The Quechee mill is the flagship, with a hydroelectric turbine on the Ottauquechee River powering the furnaces beneath the showroom and the dining room.

The brick wool mill dates to the 1830s, part of the small industrial cluster Quechee village grew around. Simon Pearce, an Irish glassmaker, restored it for glassmaking in 1981 after relocating from Kilkenny.

Yes. A balcony above the workshop floor is open free of charge during studio hours, generally weekdays. Gaffers work in teams of two or three on the gather, the marver, and the bench.

Tropical Storm Irene flooded the Ottauquechee in August 2011 and damaged the bridge severely. It was rebuilt in 2012 on the original abutments and reopened to traffic, now part of Route 4 through the village.

About a mile east along Route 4. The gorge runs 165 feet deep and was cut by glacial meltwater near the end of the last ice age. A short marked trail descends from the bridge to the riverbed.

Reservations are recommended, especially for foliage season and weekend dinners. The dining room faces west across the falls toward the covered bridge, with the best light about an hour before sunset.

— about the piece in your home

It carries well for that. The mill is one of the small Vermont stops people remember by name. The tile pairs falls, brick, and the covered bridge in one frame. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio reads as personal.

The piece sits comfortably in New England farmhouse, mountain-modern, and warm-minimalist rooms. The river-light palette reads well against unpainted wood, soapstone, and cream linen.

Yes. Warm-minimalist rooms lean on natural texture and a single point of colour. The tile gives a room one window of water without crowding the walls around it.

A single Large reads cleanly above a six-foot console. Above a standard sofa, a four-tile Mural carries the proportion better; for a longer wall, the nine-tile Mural.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and tolerate humidity. The Glossy is best kept to drier walls where the sheen does the work.

A microfibre cloth, dry or barely damp with water. No abrasive sprays, no ammonia. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and will not lift over time.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in our studio, with no licensing in or out. Reid Wender chooses each place that enters the atlas, by hand.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.