Father Pitt

Why should the beautiful die?

Hotel Schenley, Oakland

This picture reminded old Pa Pitt of an old postcard, so he rendered it in two colors to make it look even more like an old postcard. The rest of the pictures in the article are in natural colors.

Designed by Rutan & Russell, this was our first skyscraper hotel, and the most luxurious hotel in the city when it went up in 1898—at a time when it was actually at the edge of the urbanized area. It remained the Pittsburgh base of the rich and famous for half a century, but it declined after the Second World War, and in 1956 was sold to Pitt. It is now the William Pitt Union, with many of the exterior and interior details scrupulously preserved.

Loggia
Corner view
Rear
Side, from Soldiers and Sailors Hall
Hotel Schenley
The same as the first picture, but in natural colors.

Addendum: See a picture of the Hotel Schenley in 1898, the year it was built.

See a random picture
and become a better person

You could buy this book
if you wanted a book.

Father Pitt

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2 responses to “Hotel Schenley, Oakland”

  1. Hotel Schenley Advertisement from 1929 – Father Pitt

    […] Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 29, 1929, page 10. Note the exaggerated height; compare it to the proportions in old Pa Pitt’s pictures. […]

    Reply
  2. The Schenley, Newly Built – Father Pitt

    […] From Our Cities, Picturesque and Commercial, a souvenir book of Pittsburgh and Allegheny published in 1898, the year the Hotel Schenley was built. Except for the sensitively matched addition in the front and the loss of the cornice, the building looks much the same today. […]

    Reply

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