Southern Living marks 50th anniversary by unveiling jaw-dropping new building

On Monday night, Southern Living marked the magazine's 50th anniversary with a celebration at the Times Inc. food studios in Birmingham. It was an event befitting of a publication that's dedicated five decades to showcasing the South – its food, homes, gardens and culture.

It was also an opportunity for parent company Times Inc., to unveil a brand spanking new facility that would leave any foodie drooling over every inch of the 40,000 square feet of space. The fifth floor of the Southern Living headquarters houses the 28, count 'em 28, test kitchens where more than 4,000 recipes will be created and photographed each year.

With the exception of Food & Wine, all of Times Inc.’s print and online food publications will now test their recipes in Birmingham. In addition to Southern Living, that includes other iconic brands such as Coastal Living, Real Simple, Cooking Light, InStyle, People and Essence.

The staff also offered tours of the test kitchens, its 13 photo studios, and two impressive video studios, where many of the online segments are shot. It’s also where the Jones Valley Teaching Farm teaches healthy cooking habits for area kids. As cool as it was watching the magic in some of the test kitchens, the secret behind-the-scenes tour of the prop room really brought the art of the cover shot to life.

It is, to put it mildly, any cook/entertainer’s dream. Rows and rows of color-coordinated shelves of plates, bowls, cups and glasses, followed by cabinets filled with beautiful linen and silver. And who knew there were so many different kinds of cutting boards?

Sid Evans, editor in chief of Southern Living, talked about the magazine’s incredible history and the “great burden of the past to measure up” for the next 50 years in order to maintain its lifelong connection to readers.

For Greg Schumann, Group Publisher for Southern Living, it seemed simple enough: “We have to treat our customers like neighbors.”

Get a peek into the Southern Living test kitchens: