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That trajectory has continued and expanded - and after countless performances, concerts, screenings, exhibitions, receptions and all other sorts of happenings, the Maas Building is today a firm fixture on the map of arts & culture venues in Philadelphia. Many hours of blood, sweat and tears later, the building was ready to begin on the next stage of its life: in 2010, a theater company (New Paradise Laboratories), a modern dance company (Subcircle), and Ben’s recording studio (Hi5 Recording) became the Maas Building’s first tenants, setting the course for establishing Maas as a creative hub in the Philadelphia arts community. Ben, a self-confessed “C+ carpenter at best” at the start of the project, did a lot of the work himself, eventually becoming a full-blown licensed contractor. High-efficiency radiant-tube heating was installed in finished floors of polished concrete, and the soaring high ceilings expose Maas’ original bones.

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Inspired by its industrial past, the Maas Building’s rehab was designed to incorporate modern ideas into the existing industrial structure: the facade is a combination of old arched windows and modern glass and steel design. Work began: they brought in a structural engineer to fix the broken truss, a new roof was put on, and gradually the building began to awaken into a new existence. A small inheritance from Ben’s father allowed them to make a down payment on the building, and they moved into the small house on site (now known as “The Cottage”), and began to nurse the Maas Building back to life. Inspired by the property itself, their vision expanded from a private home and small business to something more public and community-oriented. Past the boarded-up windows and crumbling façade – they imagined a place that could house not just a recording studio, but multiple creative spaces, with space to boot for concerts and gatherings.

Looking for a live-work property where they could make a family home and build a recording studio, they came across the rambling compound of the Maas Building - which, to be sure, was a much larger space and project than they originally envisioned. Musician Ben Riesman and nurse-practitioner Catherine Birdsall had recently moved to Philadelphia from Oakland, CA, and fell in love with Philadelphia’s historical architecture and the industrial buildings that surrounded them where they landed in the Kensington neighborhood. A hole in the roof had caused a lot of water damage and one of the main trusses had failed. By 2008 its original industrial uses were long in the past and the building had fallen into disrepair, being used as storage for an architectural salvage business. The MAAS Building, originally built in 1859 as the Charles Maas Brewery, later became a candle factory and eventually a trolley car repair shop for the Girard St trolley line. During the pandemic, we opened the garden to many more community events and have felt that sharing this with our community has become a valuable part of what we do. Every year better than the last, every year more magical, more sheltering, more like an calm oasis in the middle of Philadelphia with all its tensions and anxieties. The Maas Garden, in a sense, represents the growth of Maas, our family and community. Every year, we train vines, maintain the bushes and trees, plant new things, and tend to this garden that never ceases to amaze us. After putting in the garden shed, Catherine designed the winding path of cobblestones and plantings that interact with the courtyard’s natural layout. The Maas Garden - which in 2008, was entirely covered in black asphalt with nothing green growing except weeds, was excavated and begun in earnest in 2009 - and has been a work in progress ever since, that - after a few tough years establishing some young green things, just grows more and more beautiful every year.