Pewabic chimney: the tiles are paint now

DETROIT. Pewabic Pottery's 1907 chimney on Jefferson Avenue has lost its tile, and most passersby can't tell. Falling and cracked tiles were becoming a permanent repair job, so painters Sadie Heisler and Kelly Golden covered the chimney in trompe l'oeil, a paint technique that mimics the tile pattern closely enough to fool the street.

The fix ends the maintenance bill and keeps the look. Pewabic has made tile in that building since 1907.