A view with a long lens from about three-quarters of a mile away.
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Ira Bixler House, Schenley Farms
This Renaissance palace, built in 1919 for coal baron Ira Bixler, was designed by Alden & Harlow.
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.
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Metal Awning on the Oliver Building
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. It could use a lick of paint—which is odd on an otherwise beautifully maintained building—but this elaborate metal awning still makes a sight worth stopping to admire on Oliver Avenue.
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Some Houses on Tennyson Avenue, Schenley Farms
More Schenley Farms houses in the snow (many with bonus icicles), beginning with this 1909 house, designed by Vrydaugh & Wolfe.
We have not yet found an architect for this lavish Tudor house, built in 1906.
Another one whose architect we don’t know yet, also built in 1906.
A free interpretation of Colonial by Alden & Harlow, built in 1921.
Designed by Louis Stevens and built in 1911.
Designed by Benno Janssen and built in 1912.
Designed by Simpson & Schmeltz and built in 1909.
Designed by Rutan & Russell and built in 1909.
Designed by C. E. Mueller and built in 1908.
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. Designed by Simpson & Isles and built in 1914.
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West Park at Twilight
Twilight views of West Park on the North Side, with snow covering the frozen Lake Elizabeth.
The Civil War monument.
Sony Alpha 3000.
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G. P. Rhodes House, Squirrel Hill
G. P. Rhodes, who appears to have been a banker from the references we find to him in old newspapers, was the owner of this Tudor mansion on Wilkins Avenue. The roof has been replaced with asphalt shingles meant to look like tiles, but otherwise the details are very well preserved.
This garage was probably built as a stable, where Mr. Rhodes’ horses lived better than may of their human neighbors.
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.
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Terra-Cotta Front on Smithfield Street
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. The ground-floor storefront was replaced at some time in the modernist era, but the upper two floors preserve two-thirds of a fine terra-cotta front.
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Some Houses on Bigelow Boulevard, Schenley Farms
Snow and icicles make every house more picturesque, and Schenley Farms is a neighborhood full of picturesque houses in any weather. Old Pa Pitt is willing to trudge through the snowdrifts so you can enjoy the beauty while sitting in front of a warm screen. Because of the hard work of an anonymous Google Maps user who gave us a map of Architects of Schenley Farms Residences, we can tell you who designed most of these houses.
We begin with one of the first houses built in the Schenley Farms plan, designed for the developers by MacClure & Spahr to attract upscale buyers to the new development. (It is also sometimes attributed to Vrydaugh & Wolfe, but our source tells us that was an error.)
This one, built in 1907, was designed by Edward Stotz.
Mr. Stotz was comfortable in many styles, but seems to have loved the classical style most of all. In this house, he uses very traditional classical ornaments—Greek key around the window and egg-and-dart along the cornice—to create a surprisingly modernistic effect.
This is one of the few mysteries in Schenley Farms: it was built by developer John H. Elder for himself, but we have not yet found the name of an architect. It is possible that Mr. Elder designed the house himself. It is a fine house, but to Father Pitt’s eyes there is something unattractively artificial-looking about the stonework.
Built in 1912; the architects were D. Simpson & Co.
Here is another one, built in 1920, whose architect we have not yet found.
Paul W. Irwin designed this Georgian mansion, built in 1921.
The firm of Alden & Harlow designed this one, built in 1922. Alden was dead by that time, but his name remained at the head of the firm. Much of the design work in the 1920s was done by Howard K. Jones.
This house was designed for Dr. A. Aiello by Casimir Pellegrini, who would go on to be one of the more important local architects of the middle twentieth century.
Another MacClure & Spahr house designed for the Schenley Farms Company early in the development of the plan.
Designed by Alden & Harlow and built in 1913.
Kodak EasyShare Max Z990; Canon PowerShot SX20 IS. This interestingly eclectic design from 1913 was by Thorsten E. Billquist, whose best-known work is the Allegheny Observatory.
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