Top of the Gate
The View from the Top
(Twelve Hours in Concrete. One Beer in the Clouds.)
Building an American icon isn’t a job. It’s a calling.
Charlie Heinbockel knew this. After 12 hours wading through concrete—hip-deep, sunburned, and soaked in sweat—he’d climb to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. Not for overtime. Not for glory. But to sit with a bottle of his mother’s home-brewed beer and take in a view so powerful it didn’t feel real.
Al Zampa, legendary ironworker, said it best:
"It had magic, some kind of magic to it. We wanted to go out there. Probably would have worked for half the money, just to be there."
That’s the kind of pride they don’t teach in classrooms. It’s built with boots, and burns, and wind that makes your teeth ache.
We captured a piece of that in our Top of the Gate —a tribute in White Longhorn clay and soft matte glaze to the men who turned vision into steel and sky. You may not be 746 feet in the air. But you can still raise your glass, take a deep breath, and look out over a scene once reserved for giants.
Just do us one favor.
Don’t toss your bottles like Charlie did.
Adventure Built. For those who find their peace where the wind howls and the work is never easy.
The View from the Top
(Twelve Hours in Concrete. One Beer in the Clouds.)
Building an American icon isn’t a job. It’s a calling.
Charlie Heinbockel knew this. After 12 hours wading through concrete—hip-deep, sunburned, and soaked in sweat—he’d climb to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. Not for overtime. Not for glory. But to sit with a bottle of his mother’s home-brewed beer and take in a view so powerful it didn’t feel real.
Al Zampa, legendary ironworker, said it best:
"It had magic, some kind of magic to it. We wanted to go out there. Probably would have worked for half the money, just to be there."
That’s the kind of pride they don’t teach in classrooms. It’s built with boots, and burns, and wind that makes your teeth ache.
We captured a piece of that in our Top of the Gate —a tribute in White Longhorn clay and soft matte glaze to the men who turned vision into steel and sky. You may not be 746 feet in the air. But you can still raise your glass, take a deep breath, and look out over a scene once reserved for giants.
Just do us one favor.
Don’t toss your bottles like Charlie did.
Adventure Built. For those who find their peace where the wind howls and the work is never easy.
The View from the Top
(Twelve Hours in Concrete. One Beer in the Clouds.)
Building an American icon isn’t a job. It’s a calling.
Charlie Heinbockel knew this. After 12 hours wading through concrete—hip-deep, sunburned, and soaked in sweat—he’d climb to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. Not for overtime. Not for glory. But to sit with a bottle of his mother’s home-brewed beer and take in a view so powerful it didn’t feel real.
Al Zampa, legendary ironworker, said it best:
"It had magic, some kind of magic to it. We wanted to go out there. Probably would have worked for half the money, just to be there."
That’s the kind of pride they don’t teach in classrooms. It’s built with boots, and burns, and wind that makes your teeth ache.
We captured a piece of that in our Top of the Gate —a tribute in White Longhorn clay and soft matte glaze to the men who turned vision into steel and sky. You may not be 746 feet in the air. But you can still raise your glass, take a deep breath, and look out over a scene once reserved for giants.
Just do us one favor.
Don’t toss your bottles like Charlie did.
Adventure Built. For those who find their peace where the wind howls and the work is never easy.
All of our tiles are handmade in Texas. We use the cuenca, or arista, technique, in which the glaze colors are prevented from mingling in the firing process by raised borders molded into the clay
Because we individually press and glaze every tile there is a slight variation which lends to their handmade beauty. The size and weight of each of our tiles hearkens back to the days of true craftsmanship.