This past weekend I went on a tour of the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia. I wasn't quite sure what to expect at all...and I have to say I was quite surprised! For a top secret men's club, this place was, for lack of a better term, lady-tastic! Each room was modeled after architecture from a different place/time period and I was expecting to see super machismo and phallic references out the wazoo, but no...it was amazingly beautiful! It looks like each room was painstakingly crafted and lovingly decorated. Many of the architectural elements were plaster and faux finished to look like wood, tile, marble, etc. Amazing and beautiful...
The ceiling of this room was made of carved (or cast?) plaster tiles...incredible...
This was the Egyptian room...insane...
Egyptian room ceiling...
Egyptian room podium...(with what the tour guide mentioned were greek style sphinxes, rather than Egyptian style...curious...)
A fabulous view of the hall, which featured a cast iron staircase...
All the "wooden" ceiling beams in here were actually faux finished plaster painted with turkey feathers to make it look like wood grain!!!
AMAZING CEILINGS THROUGHOUT...!
52 foot high ceilings?!?!
...!
Caryatids...
Yet another amazing plaster ceiling...
Wtf...
What looked to be one of many amazing tile pieces...
Owl!
Bottom of the main staircase...so crazy...
Really and truly the place was amazingly beautiful and I can't believe this is where men go to have their secret meetings...surely this is a place meant for secret lady meetings, no?
Egyptian room podium...(with what the tour guide mentioned were greek style sphinxes, rather than Egyptian style...curious...)
52 foot high ceilings?!?!
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