Portland Cliff™ Porcelain Tile: Design You Can See, A Surface You Can Feel

A Stone with a Storied Past

Portland stone is a creamy Jurassic limestone formed more than 140 million years ago on the floor of a shallow, warm sea. Over time, countless billions of tiny calcium carbonate spheres, called ooids, gradually cemented together to form what geologists call an oolitic limestone. This unique structure gave Portland stone its consistent color, distinctive veining, and workable strength—qualities that have made it a favorite of architects and masons for centuries.

Shaping Architectural History

Quarried on the Isle of Portland along England’s southern coast since Roman times, Portland stone rose to prominence in the 17th century when Sir Christopher Wren chose it to rebuild St. Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire of London. Its use quickly expanded to landmarks including the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, and the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. For centuries, Portland stone has stood as a symbol of elegance and endurance, weathering time with quiet strength.

Portland Cliff: A Modern Interpretation

Today, Crossville® honors this legacy with Portland Cliff™ porcelain tile, a tile collection that channels the look and feel of natural Portland stone into a versatile, high-performance surfacing material designed for contemporary spaces. With Crossville’s Visual Touch Technology™, Portland Cliff introduces a hyper-realistic tactile surface that follows the linear veining and tonal shifts of true stone, offering a sensory connection between sight and touch. Portland Cliff’s soft, organic texture and neutral color palette create a serene atmosphere, making it ideal for spa-like bathrooms, sophisticated kitchens, elegant lobbies, and refined hospitality spaces.

Carbon Neutral & Perfect for Sustainable Design Projects

Porcelain tile is one of the most sustainable surfacing options available, crafted primarily from abundant natural materials such as clay, sand, and feldspar. Known for its durability and recyclability, porcelain tile contributes to long-lasting, environmentally responsible design. All Crossville® U.S.-made porcelain includes at least 10% pre-consumer recycled content (view our recycled tile content by product here) and meets the Green Squared® Certification (ANSI A138.1), the industry’s multi-attribute sustainability standard. Portland Cliff™ takes these eco-advantages even further as Crossville’s newest carbon-neutral porcelain tile collection—our sixth to achieve this distinction—making it an ideal choice for today’s sustainable design projects. Learn more about Crossville’s sustainability commitment here.

Designed for Versatility

From bathroom wall tile to elegant hotel lobbies, Portland Cliff is designed for projects of every scale. This porcelain tile collection is available in:

1. Five restorative neutral colors that create calm, elegant palettes
2. Two field tile sizes: 12×24 and 24×48 for everything from intimate bathrooms to large-scale commercial floor tile installations
3. Two finishes—unpolished with Visual Touch for interiors, and exterior finish in 12×24 for outdoor tile applications—deliver seamless indoor-to-outdoor design continuity
4. Coordinating trim options for functional, code-compliant details
5. Two mosaics, including a new barrel mosaic tile, to add creative flexibility and fine detail

Heritage Meets Innovation

From spa-like bathroom wall tile applications and kitchen floors and backsplashes to expansive commercial floor tile installations, Portland Cliff brings understated elegance to any project. With its combination of timeless beauty, superior durability, stain resistance, and effortless maintenance, this tilecollection delivers the essence of Portland stone—reimagined in porcelain for the way we design today.