In this study, the growth of Sn on Si(557) surfaces by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction and angle resolved photoemission is analyzed. Depending on the Sn submonolayer coverage, various Sn-nanowires are identified. For Sn-coverages above 0.5 ML,)-reconstructions are found. In particular, these phases cover extended (111)-areas, thus leading to an inhomogeneous refacetting of the Si(557) surface. The (223)-facets between the mini-(111) terraces reveal structures, which resemble a Â2 reconstruction along edges. The initial step structure of the Si(557) surface is maintained for Sncoverages below 0.5 ML, showing the α-Sn phase on 3 nm wide (111)terraces. In contrast to the 2D Mott state of α-Sn/Si(111), this confinement seems to quench the correlated electronic phase yielding metallic surface states at 40 K, in accordance with photoemission.