Father Pitt

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900 South Negley Avenue, Shadyside

Old Pa Pitt knows nothing about this apartment building, and it is probably not one of the masterpieces of modernism. But it was different enough from the ordinary brick boxes to be worth a couple of quick pictures with the phone camera. It was probably not worth the effort Father Pitt later put into adjusting the perspective of the picture above by slicing it down the corner and adjusting it on two planes, but the “violent perspective” (as photography critics used to call it) of the wide-angle lens on the phone offended him.

Enlarge the picture and you can see that one of the corner apartments is infested with plastic coyotes.

An abstract pattern of shaped glass blocks over the entrance creates interesting patterns of light inside.

September 10, 2024
Front Door of the B. F. Jones House, Allegheny West

Samsung Galaxy A15 5G.

Steel baron B. F. Jones’ front doorway is a feast of elaborate terra cotta. This is a very large picture: enlarge it to appreciate the details of the terra cotta and ironwork.

September 10, 2024
St. Francis de Sales School, McKees Rocks

This composite picture is big; enlarge it to appreciate the variety of classical ornament.

Unlike the adjacent church, St. Francis de Sales School found a new use when it closed, and it is still maintained. The alterations were heavy and unsympathetic, but we can still see enough of the original design to imagine the rest. The original part of the school was built in 1909; it appears to have been expanded later. This is the Margaret Street end, with the original inscription.

This end of the school appears to be a later expansion.

The open belfry in this entrance tower, and the entrance below it, suggest some Art Nouveau influence.

Sony Alpha 3000 with 7Artisans f/1.4 35mm lens; Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

September 9, 2024
St. Francis de Sales Church, McKees Rocks
The dome is the star of this extraordinary building, which was put up in 1899–1900 and is now slowly crumbling. The school behind it, heavily altered, is in use as a personal-care home; the church would be hard to find a use for even in a prosperous neighborhood. It ought to be preserved, but its most likely fate is to continue to crumble until it finally becomes too dangerous to leave standing. The architect was Marius Rousseau, who carried out the wishes of Father Charles J. Coyne for a church like a Roman basilica.¹

Sony Alpha 3000 with 7Artisans f/1.4 35mm lens; Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.
1. “A Unique Church Edifice,” Pittsburg Press, November 26, 1899, p. 18. —Our article here has been revised; originally we did not know the architect, and we had dated the church four years too late. ↩︎
September 9, 2024
Porches of PPG Place

Adopting and heavily modifying an idea from Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson surrounded the buildings of PPG Place with glass colonnades that create an inviting transition between inside and outside.

Kodak EasyShare Z1285.

September 9, 2024
A Flemish Row in Shadyside

This row of houses on Howe Street has a distinctly Dutch or Flemish look. The Flemish style is not unknown in Pittsburgh, but it is rare to see a row of five houses in that style at once. (For another example of multiple Flemish houses, see the Osterling row in Brighton Heights.)

This house, like many in Shadyside, has had part of its basement turned into a garage, with a steep driveway dug out of the front yard.

It is delightful to see that the intricate woodwork on the front porch has been preserved.

The angles and curves that make the gable look so Antverpian are made of iron or steel, as we can tell by one rusted section:

This makes us suspect that perhaps three of the other houses in the row might have had similar decorations, removed when they rusted too much to repair.

Fujifilm FinePix HS10; Samsung Galaxy A15 5G.

This house, however, was clearly meant to show off its stones without additional adornment, except for the usual decorative utility-cable swags.

September 8, 2024
Neville Island Presbyterian Church
This article has been rewritten from its original version, which said that Father Pitt knew nothing about the church. After that, information trickled in.

This church was built in 1916 or so; the architect was Chauncey W. Hodgdon.¹ The congregation informed the Presbytery that it would close the church in 2022, according to a Pittsburgh Presbytery newsletter [PDF], but the grounds are still mowed and the building is in good shape. Its most prominent feature is its tower with eye-catchingly prickly battlements.

Kodak EasyShare Z1285.
1. Source: American Contractor, March 11, 1916, p. 53. “Church: $20,000. 1 sty. & bas. 60×80. Neville Island. Archt. Chauncey Hodgdon, Penn building. Owner Neville Island Presby. Church, Dr. Wm. P. Shrom Thorn, Run rd. Plans in progress. Will take bids soon. Brk. veneer on hollow tile.” ↩︎
One response

September 8, 2024
An Odd Corner in East Liberty
Highland Avenue crosses Centre Avenue in East Liberty at an odd angle, creating an opportunity for two typically Pittsburghish odd-shaped buildings. First, the Wallace Building, shoved into a sharp corner and coming to a point at the intersection. The building was designed by George S. Orth in 1896.¹

Old Pa Pitt hopes his readers will forgive a slightly imperfect composite of three photographs.

Samsung Galaxy A15 5G.

On the opposite side of Centre Avenue, the Stevenson Building fills in an oblique angle. Its prominent corner entrance makes the most of its location.

The original building was designed by William Ross Proctor and built in 1896. In 1927, the three bays at far left in the picture above were added under the supervision of O. M. Topp, who matched the style of the original so carefully that Father Pitt had not noticed the seam, and therefore was confused about the architects in an earlier version of this article.²
1. Source: Pittsburg Post, May 22, 1896, p. 9. “D. H. Wallace yesterday broke ground at Sheridan, Center and Highland avenues for a $50,000 building. George S. Orth is the architect. The building will be three-storied, and on the first floor will be storerooms, with flats on the other floors.” ↩︎
2. This is what old Pa Pitt wrote, which he preserves in a footnote to show how wrong he can be, which would not have happened if he had paid more attention to the stated dimensions: “There is some uncertainty about the design of this building. It is listed by the city as a building designed by William Ross Proctor and built in 1896. However, Father Pitt finds a 1927 listing in the Charette, the magazine of the Pittsburgh Architectural Club, that matches this building perfectly and assigns it to O. M. Topp: “313. Architect: O. M. Topp, Jenkins Arcade, Pittsburgh, Pa. Owner: James B. Stevenson. Title: Store and Office Building. Location: Highland and Center Avenues. Approximate size: 25×100 ft.; three stories and basement. Cubage: 100,000 cu. ft. First story: Amherst buff sandstone; second and third stories: Roman brick and terra cotta.” Nevertheless, a building of exactly these dimensions stood here long before 1927, and we have not been able to find any newspaper stories about its destruction or replacement. It is possible that Topp only supervised renovations, and the editor of the Charette misunderstood the information he was given. As of now, therefore, Father Pitt assigns the building to O. M. Topp, but with the understanding that Proctor might have been the original architect.” ↩︎
September 7, 2024
Zinnias

There is always room for more zinnias, which give us some of the most outrageously bright colors in the annual garden.

Samsung Galaxy A15 with Open Camera; Kodak EasyShare Z981.

September 7, 2024
A Charming Cottage in West Park

Old Pa Pitt was on his way out of West Park and already late for an appointment, but when he passed this house on the McKees Rocks side of the neighborhood, he had to stop and take pictures. It is not quite like any other house he has ever seen, and the original trim is well preserved.

Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

September 7, 2024