Category: Behind the Scenes Tours

Behind the Scenes Tour of McClain Wiesand Custom Built Furniture

In New York, Chicago and San Francisco, the custom built decorative art pieces created by Baltimore’s own McClain Wiesand studio are featured for their beauty and careful craftsmanship. This tour offers a “twofer”: a tour of the McClain Wiesand workshop and an open house of the owner’s fabulously renovated apartments (Moroccan room and all) above his shop in historic Mount Vernon.

Tour Information

Date: Wednesday April 7, 2010
Time: 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. — Wine and Cheese
6:00 to 7:00 p.m. — Tour
Place: McClain Wiesand Custom Built Furniture
1013 Cathedral Street (Baltimore, MD 21201)
Cost: $15 (includes wine and cheese reception)

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Behind the Scenes Tour of the Old Otterbein Church

Image courtesy wallyg/Flickr

Old Otterbein Church, built in 1785, is the oldest church still standing in Baltimore. With its classic brick and white trim tower (with bells brought over from Germany), the church shows off its landmark stature for countless Orioles fans and anybody traveling around downtown and Camden Yards. Please join us to get a better look at this Baltimore gem and its two historic ancillary buildings, the 1811 Parsonage and the 1872 Sunday School. We’ll also be treated to a demonstration of the church’s one-of-a-kind 1897 Niemann Organ.

Tour Information

Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010
Time: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. (the organist will start playing at 6:15)
Place: Old Otterbein Church, 112 West Conway Street, 21201
Park in the church lot to the east of the church, entrance off Conway Street
Cost: $10
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Behind the Scenes Tour of the First and Franklin Presbyterian Church

Image courtesy Baltimore Sun

We have a rare opportunity to climb up into the scaffolding inside one of the great interior historic spaces in Baltimore: the First and Franklin Presbyterian Church in Mount Vernon.  The church is in the midst of renovations, and we have a chance to see the historic building up close and up high before the scaffolding comes down with Rev. Dr. Alison Halsey, the church’s pastor and our tour guide.

The renovations are being undertaken by the architecture firm of Murphy and Dittenhafer.  Principal architect Michael Murphy, who was overseeing the work, passed away unexpectedly last week–an enormous loss for preservation and architecture in Baltimore.  We are holding this tour as a tribute to Mr. Murphy and his contributions to Baltimore.

Tour Information

Date:   Sunday, February 21, 2010
Time:   2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Place:   First and Franklin Church, 210 West Madison Street at the corner of Park Avenue
Meet at the church’s “Backus House,” on Madison Avenue next to the church
Park on the Street
Cost:    $10
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Behind the Scenes Tour of the Baltimore Bar Library

A gem within a gem, the historic Baltimore Bar Library sits on the sixth floor of the historic Clarence Mitchell Jr. Courthouse with its barrel vault ceiling and luxurious oak paneling. Please join us for a tour of this fantastic space with three luminary tour guides: retired chief judge Joseph Kaplan, federal judge and Bar Library historian James Schneider, and Bar Library director Joseph Bennett. If you can’t make it out for the tour, you might enjoy this Legal Historian’s Tour of Baltimore from the Thurgood Marshall Law Library at the University of Maryland School of Law.

Image courtesy the Baltimore Bar Library

Tour Information

Cost:    $15 (includes wine and cheese reception)
Date:     Thursday, February 18, 2010
Time:     5:30 to 6:00 p.m. — Wine and Cheese
6:00 to 7:00 p.m. — Tour
Place:    Baltimore Bar Library, within the Clarence Mitchell Courthouse (map)
Park on the Street
Cost:      $15 (includes wine and cheese reception)
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Behind the Scenes Tour of the Hotel Brexton – Updated

Since 1881, the Hotel Brexton has lorded over Tyson Street and Park Avenue in Mount Vernon and will do so again after a recent and thorough restoration.  Please join architect Donald Kann and members of the RWN redevelopment team on a tour of this wonderfully restored building on the eve of its reopening (literally: the hotel opens to the public the morning after our tour).

Tour Information – Updated

Update- The tour of the Hotel Brexton has been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 17.  Tour registrants should look for an e-mail with an update on whether they are set for the 5:30 PM or the 6:30 PM tour.

Date:     Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Time:     5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Place:    Brexton Hotel, 868 Park Avenue
Park on the Street
Cost:      $10

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