We have seen this especially fine church before, but since old Pa Pitt was out walking on Potomac Avenue in early-evening light, he decided that we could see it again. It is now the Dormont campus of the nondenominational North Way Christian Community, which fortunately has the money to keep up the exterior.
The parsonage is just the sort of elegant and respectable dwelling you need for your Presbyterian minister. With a broad English Gothic arch at the entrance to link it to the church, it makes a good transition between the monumental church and the prosperous merchant-class houses on Espy Avenue.
Addendum: Father Pitt tentatively attributes the church to Chauncey W. Hodgdon. Mr. Hodgdon was hired to supervise alterations in 1914,(1) and it was considered unethical for another architect to alter or add to a building within a few years of its construction unless the original one refused, or was unavailable, or was rejected by the client.(2)
Footnotes
- Source: The Construction Record, July 11, 1914: “Architect C. W. Hodgon [sic], 810 Penn avenue, has plans for interior alterations to be made to the Seventh Presbyterian Church, Potomac avenue, Mt. Lebanon. The work calls for a new gallery.” (↩)
- From the Code of Ethics of the Boston Society of Architects, which was reprinted for some time in every issue of The American Architect and Building News: “It is unprofessional to make alterations of a building designed by another architect, within ten years of its completion, without ascertaining that the owner refuses to employ the original designer, or, in the event of the property having changed hands, without due notice to the said designer.” (↩)