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Hillside House in Carrick
Canon PowerShot SX150 IS. Dutch Colonial meets Normandy in an attractively eclectic house that you can see from a long way away, because it perches on the side of a steep hill.
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Victorian Gothic in Lawrenceville
Hidden behind bushes and later additions is an exceptional example of Victorian Gothic domestic architecture. It seems to have been built in the 1870s to face Sherman Street, a street that vanished by 1890, or possibly existed only on paper; today the original front faces a nameless private alley behind the midcentury-modern Arsenal Place townhouses. The corner has been filled in with a later addition, and then another even later frame-and-stucco addition has been added; but the gables and dormers survive with their Gothic-arch windows and original ornamental woodwork.
For many years, this house is marked on plat maps as belonging to the Rev. J. G Brown, D. D., who already owned the property (possibly with a smaller house on it) in 1872.
Fujifilm FinePix HS10. -
Potomac Station, Dormont
Kodak Retinette with Kentmere Pan 100 film. Potomac gives Red Line riders easy access to the Dormont business district, which is full of odd little shops and restaurants that make it well worth a visit. Some of the houses in streets nearby are architecturally significant, and a walk through the back streets of Dormont is always pleasant.
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Old Service Station in Arlington
Very few service stations from the early years of the automobile have survived in Pittsburgh, even though Pittsburgh invented the drive-up filling station. This one is a good representative of the class, and though it no longer sells gasoline it remains in the automobile business today.
Canon PowerShot SX150 IS. -
Stained Glass in the Allegheny Cemetery Mausoleum
“America the Beautiful,” by Katherine Lee Bates. The Allegheny Cemetery Mausoleum is now advertised as the Temple of Memories, because our taste has gone in that direction. It’s a very large communal mausoleum, built in 1960, and walking through the doors feels like going through a time portal into the end of the Eisenhower era. By far the most striking feature of the mausoleum is the series of stained-glass windows by Willet in Philadelphia and Hunt in Pittsburgh. They are some of the best modern stained glass in Pittsburgh, and they commemorate great triumphs of religious literature and music. We have a lot of large pictures here, so we’ll put them behind a “read more” link to avoid weighing down the front page.
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Victorian Row in Lawrenceville
Separate ownership does funny things to rowhouses. This row of four would have matched originally; some owners have doubled down on the Victorian style, and some have done what they could with modern materials, leading to interesting effects along the property line.
Fujifilm FinePix HS10; Kodak EasyShare Z1285. -
Farm in Findlay Township
Pittsburgh developed in octopus fashion, with long arms of urbanization following rivers and railroads, but much open country between the arms. Findlay Township, at the western end of Allegheny County, is still rural in many places. Here is a farm with cornfield and orchard.
Olympus E-20N.
