Father Pitt

Benno Janssen was one of the titans of Pittsburgh architecture, but even titans take on small projects once in a while. This is a fairly ordinary house on an ordinary street in Brookline, but it was designed by the firm of Janssen & Abbott.¹ In spite of revisions that have changed some of the original character, it seems to retain some of the elegant simplicity of Janssen, who never wasted a line.

The front door is set back on the side of the house, which allows a broad front living room opening out on the porch, without dropping visitors right into the living room when they arrive—a clever way of making a narrow lot seem less restrictive.

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1. “More Building Under Way than for Many Years,” Post, June 4, 1911. “C. E. Showalter is taking bids on erecting a 2½-story brick residence from plans drawn by Architects Janssen & Abbott, to cost $5,000.” Polk’s city directory for 1913 shows Chas E Showalter living at 1402 Creedmoor av. ↩︎