Philadelphia's Secret Places

Across the street from Philadelphia's City Hall stands an imposing stone building that looks, from the outside, like any other grand civic structure. Step inside on a guided tour, though, and you'll find one of the country's most extraordinary interiors: seven meticulously decorated lodge halls, each in a different historical architectural style, from Egyptian to Gothic to Renaissance.

Built as the headquarters of Pennsylvania's Freemasons over 150 years ago, the building still functions as a working Masonic lodge today, alongside its public library and museum of Masonic artifacts.

One-hour guided tours run several times a day, Wednesday through Saturday, led by docents who explain both the building's architecture and the history and symbolism of Freemasonry itself.

Cira Green sits directly on top of the Cira Centre South parking garage in University City, 95 feet above the Schuylkill River — an entire public park with open lawn, seating, and skyline views, built where you'd normally only expect a rooftop of asphalt and cars.

Visit Philadelphia features it directly as one of the city's hidden gems: free to enter, reached by elevator or stairs from inside the garage, and popular with local office workers at lunchtime who most tourists never see using it.

Because it sits above a functioning parking structure rather than inside a park entrance, it's easy to walk right past the building without ever realizing there's green space above your head.

Shofuso — 'Pine Breeze Villa' — was designed by Japanese architect Junzo Yoshimura in 1953 as part of an exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art, before being moved to Philadelphia's West Fairmount Park, where it has remained ever since.

The traditional wooden house and surrounding garden, maintained by the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia, offer a genuinely immersive slice of Japanese architecture and landscape design inside an American city park — not a replica or theme-park version, but an actual historic structure.

Timed tickets are required and capacity is limited, so the site never feels overcrowded — a typical visit runs 30 minutes to an hour, with staff on hand to answer questions even without a scheduled tour.