Father Pitt

Why should the beautiful die?


The Sauer Building

Sauer Building

The front of green terra cotta is unique in Pittsburgh. Frederick C. Sauer designed this building, and when it was done he moved his office into it. It is the only one of Sauer’s buildings, as far as old Pa Pitt knows, that bore his name on the building itself, though at some point some workman, doubtless thinking he was doing a splendid job of renovating the building, did his best to obliterate the letters:

F. C. Sauer, architect

Addendum: As we might have guessed from looking at the front, the building rose in two stages. Three floors were added in 1909.1

804
Cornice
Ornament in terra cotta
Ornament in terra cotta
Green terra cotta
Sony Alpha 3000; Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR.

  1. “Erecting More Home Dwellings,” Press, May 16, 1909, p. 36). “The F. G. Saur [sic] building on Penn avenue, near Eighth street, is to be made a seven story structure by the addition of three stories.” ↩︎

3 responses to “The Sauer Building”

  1. von Hindenburg

    While it’s not completely covered in it, the Century Building on 7th St makes extensive use of that same terra cotta in its window frames.

    1. An excellent observation, and a reminder that we need to get back to that building with a long lens to pick out all the grotesque heads and swags and dangling fruit.

      1. Von Hindenburg

        It is a gorgeous one. Can’t wait for the pictures and potted history!

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