A splendid example of the Georgian revival, which is not a very common style in Schenley Farms. This is one of those domestic masterpieces that make Schenley Farms “a museum of early twentieth century domestic architecture,” in the words of the historical marker put up by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation in 1978.
Father Pitt promised more Tudor-style houses in Schenley Farms, and here they are. We are certainly not finished with the Tudor houses in the neighborhood, but we have made a good beginning.
One of the streets named for great writers in the Schenley Farms section of Oakland; this writer happens to be the most famous of the lot because of his association with a well-known contest. Above, bronze letters in the sidewalk still mark where Lord Lytton meets Mr. Parkman. Below, the street, lined with beautiful turn-of-the-twentieth-century houses and mature sycamores, points straight toward the Cathedral of Learning.
Though Tudor was the most popular style in Schenley Farms, there are other styles as well, and there are several fine Italian Renaissance palaces in the neighborhood.
The Tudor style was very popular for large houses in Pittsburgh in the early twentieth century, and in Schenley Farms, that exceptional enclave of exceptionally fine houses in the Oakland medical-intellectual district, it is the single most popular style. The hallmark of the style is half-timbering: exposed wooden beams with stucco (or some such material) between them. Here is a random selection of Tudor houses; we’ll see more of them shortly, since, with the leaves gone for the winter, now is the time to get pictures of the houses behind the trees.
This last house is an interesting example of the survival of the style into the middle twentieth century: it is later than most of its neighbors, and probably dates from the 1930s at the earliest, but it adapts the Tudor style to a lower budget and more modest size.
Schenley Farms is that quiet little enclave of grand houses in the Oakland university district. It is a museum of styles that were popular in the early twentieth century, and one of the most popular for grand houses was the Tudor style. Half-timbering (ostentatious beams with stucco between them), steep-pitched roofs, bays, and oriels (overhanging bays) are frequent marks of the style. Here’s a little gallery of Tudor houses from a short walk in the neighborhood.
Schenley Farms, the little enclave of quiet residential streets amid the bustle of the Oakland intellectual district, is an encyclopedia of housing styles from the early twentieth century. Here we have a very simple façade with elements of the Spanish Mission style: stucco (of course), an arcaded porch, tile roof, a little iron-railed balcony, and a design that turns inward, with more wall than window in front.
A Tudor house in Schenley Farms recedes into the woods, looking more and more like something from a fairy tale.
The base of a tree against a sidewalk in Schenley Farms.
Many styles of houses line the quiet, pleasant streets of Schenley Farms, but the neighborhood has an unusual concentration of small Italian Renaissance palaces.
