Beverly Court Spanish Tile outer roof.
Recently during inspections of the Grande Ballroom, our team discovered some of remnants of the Grande’s famous Spanish or “barrel” tile roof.
Upon close examination of the tiles we noted the original manufacturer and count for the production run. #213 of 56,370.
It turns out that the manufacturer Ludowici Co. is still in business in New Lexington, Ohio and has been since 1888.
Architect Charles Agree would have worked with this supplier to choose the specific glaze colors for these ceramic, kiln fired, “barrel” tiles. They are commonly very expensive and had the durability to last 100 years or more. We are not certain if all 56,370 tiles from the run were used at the Grande, but given the custom colors it is certainly possible.
