The tower of Calvary Episcopal Church, one of three Ralph Adams Cram churches in Pittsburgh, bathed in sunset light, from pictures Father Pitt took in 1999.
-
Tower of Calvary Episcopal Church at Sunset
-
Gothic House in Shadyside
Old Pa Pitt is not quite sure how to classify this house. It is a sort of Jacobean or Tudor Gothic, but with very Victorian woodwork on the gables. We shall call it “Jacobean with gingerbread.”
Addendum: This is the Remsen V. Messler house; the architects were Peabody & Stearns, who designed several other Tudorish mansions around here, as well as the Liberty Market (now Motor Square Garden) and the Horne’s department store.
-
Queen Anne House in Shadyside
A particularly fine Queen Anne style house on Morewood Avenue. The big roof reminds old Pa Pitt of turn-of-the-twentieth-century German architecture.
-
Colonial Place
Colonial Place, off Ellsworth Avenue, is one of those little one-street enclaves in Shadyside that shut out the world as much as they can to create a tiny insular community. The architect here was George S. Orth, who also designed a couple of prominent millionaires’ mansions in Allegheny West. The landscape design by E. H. Bachman was just as important, and the sycamore trees he specified have matured into elegant sculptures as attractive when the leaves are off as they are in full leaf.
-
First Unitarian Church, Shadyside
A small but substantial Gothic church that could easily pass for a church from any other denomination.
-
Renaissance Palace in Shadyside
A fine example of Pittsburgh’s interpretation of the Italian Renaissance. The extremely simple form is varied by a few well-chosen details. Enlarge the picture and note the Greek-key pattern along the gutter.
-
Church of the Ascension, Shadyside
We looked at the Church of the Ascension a little while ago. Here is a view of the entire south side of it that took twelve individual photographs to capture. That is the kind of effort old Pa Pitt is willing to put into documenting his city’s architecture for you, his beloved readers. The whole picture is nearly 11 megabytes, so don’t click or tap on it if you’re on a metered connection.
-
Gargoyles on the Church of the Ascension
-
First Trinity Lutheran Church, Shadyside
With its half-timbered parsonage, First Trinity Lutheran Church forms a little medieval enclave on a street of apartment buildings.
-
Ellsworth Terrace
Shadyside is full of these little enclaves of townhouses, improbably narrow streets (or simply pedestrian walkways) that shut out the world and create their own little enclosed communities. Ellsworth Terrace, built in 1913, is a fine example of early-twentieth-century arts-and-crafts design. Wikipedia lists the architect as William H. Justice, but with a question mark after the name. The pseudo-Victorian building to the right is a much more recent condominium.
