Father Pitt

Why should the beautiful die?


Entrance to the Gerber Apartments, Shadyside

Otherwise not remarkable among the many classically inspired apartment houses in Shadyside, this one has an entrance that certainly stands out. It makes a spectacle of itself, in fact. The capitals on the massive square columns are more or less Corinthian, but Corinthian is usually the lightest and airiest-looking of the classical orders, whereas this construction gives the impression that it outweighs the whole building behind it.

This picture was taken with what might be called a toy camera. It was a no-name digital camera with stated 18-megapixel resolution, but clearly those 18 megapixels are achieved by multiplying some much smaller number of pixels. It may amuse you to enlarge the picture to full size and examine the results.


One response to “Entrance to the Gerber Apartments, Shadyside”

  1. Hey Father Pitt, I’m hoping you can help me find some information. Do you know when the Mellon mansions along Negley Avenue were torn down and by whom? T.A Mellon lived where B’nai Israel Synagogue now stands. James Ross Mellon lived at 400 Negley, where Negley Gardens stands, and their father Thomas Mellon lived at 401 Negley from 1851-1908! Boundary stones of 400 Negley and the wrought iron fence of 400 Negley are still there, but I can’t find a definitive date or developer for any of the houses’ demise.

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