St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Parish House and Rectory is a group of architecturally-significant religious buildings located at 200-216 North Mill Street in Birdsboro, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Prior to the 2003 removal of its stained-glass windows, pipe organ, and interior furnishings, the building was considered the most unaltered of Victorian architect Frank Furness's churches.
George designed the "Norman-Gothic" church building, and he and his brother donated the organ, the bell for its gable bellcote, and other interior and exterior improvements.
[10] The church's exterior was clad in brownstone, with a wooden porte cochere built against the west transept (turning it into a carriage entrance), a colored-slate roof, and a large gold-plated cross crowning the steeple.
Both churches had soaring curved roof trusses, vividly colored walls, and high windows that bathed the sanctuary in natural light.
For St. Michael's, Furness chose royal-blue ceilings and Etruscan-red walls accented with metallic-gold trim, a color scheme that he had used to dramatic effect at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
572, 1882) was housed in the base of the bell tower, and its pipes were stencilled with stylized flowers in colors that recalled Pennsylvania Dutch folk art.
[16] Availability to these items was supposed to be restricted only to other Episcopal congregations, but, according to George M. Meiser IX, president of the Historical Society of Berks County, some of them were offered for sale on eBay.