andipantz

Today my adventures landed me at the Curtis Center here in Philadelphia.  The building was historically the home of the Curtis Publishing Company, which was well known for publishing Ladies’ Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post, among others.  But little did I know that the interior of this building is so grand.  The offices in the building lie on the outer edges of every floor and the huge court on the main floor has a cathedral ceiling that extends up to the skylit roof.  Obviously, it’s had some remodeling, but it’s still pretty magnificent. I was overwhelmed with the interior that I forgot to take a photo of the exterior.  Next time.

Little did I know that also within the Curtis Building resides a huge Tiffany mosaic piece entitled “Dream Garden.”  It was designed by artist Maxfield Parrish and executed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and Tiffany Studios in 1916.  it measures 15  x 49 feet.  It uses over 100,000 pieces of favrile glass that were each hand-fired in each of the 260 colors.  I’ve lived in Philadelphia for about 14 years and had no idea that this was even here.  It is huge and amazing and I highly recommend checking it out if you live or visit Philadelphia.  Read more about the piece here.  The Curtis Building is on the corner of 6th & Walnut.  The entrance with the Tiffany piece is on 6th Street.