Michelle was lucky enough to work in the historic Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower in Baltimore City for a period of two years. Rooms in the Tower are rented out as artist studios. The Tower was modeled after the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy and houses what has been called the most interesting room in Baltimore–the four-sided clock room.

Above the clock room are several other interesting spaces that few ever get to see. You climb through the ladder steps in the center of the clock room and make your way through a dark, dusty room lined with old discarded beams.  Then you take another ladder up and out into the cupola, the interior of which is painted blue. This portion of the Tower opens to an expansive view of Baltimore City.

If you’re daring enough to climb the spiral staircase through what feels like empty air high over the earth, you’ll find a room, often filled with birds, that a former caretaker aptly called the Tippy Hedren room. Hold your breath and climb another stair and you pop out at the very top of the tower. Those afraid of heights definitely shouldn’t ascend above the clock room!