Father Pitt

Tag: Craftsman Style

  • Not Frederick Scheibler

    Row of houses on Alder Street

    This row of houses on Alder Street in Shadyside has been attributed to Frederick Scheibler, Pittsburgh’s most famous home-grown modernist, by the guesswork of certain architectural historians. But Martin Aurand, Scheibler’s biographer, could find no evidence that Scheibler designed them. Then who was responsible for this strikingly modern early-twentieth-century terrace?

    5931–5937 Alder Street

    Old Pa Pitt is confident that he has the answer. The architect was T. Ed. Cornelius, who lived all his life in Coraopolis but was busy throughout the Pittsburgh area. We can be almost certain of that attribution because the houses in the middle of the row are identical to the ones in the Kleber row in Brighton Heights:

    Kleber row in Brighton Heights

    And the Brighton Heights houses were the subject of a photo feature in the Daily Post of March 5, 1916, in which T. Ed. Cornelius is named as the architect.

    1916 picture of row in Brighton Heights

    The Alder Street houses are bookended by larger double houses, one of which—this being Pittsburgh, of course—is an odd shape to fit the odd lot.

    Row of houses on Alder Street
    5927 and 5929 Alder Street

    So remember the name of T. Ed. (which stands for Thomas Edward) Cornelius when you think of distinctive Pittsburgh architecture. It is quite a compliment to have your work mistaken for Frederick Scheibler’s.

    5931–5937 Alder Street
    Kodak EasyShare Max Z990; Fujifilm FinePix HS20EXR.
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  • A Museum of the Craftsman Style in Brookline

    3020 Knowlson Avenue

    In a city architectural inventory of Brookline, Knowlson Avenue between McNeilly and Dorchester was singled out as a potential historic district.

    Knowlson Avenue is a two-block-long, brick-paved street lined with Craftsman Style houses. Their design and integrity make Knowlson Avenue an excellent representative concentration of the Craftsman Style residential character integral to Brookline. While the types of houses are similar to those found in the rest of the neighborhood, the level of integrity, and therefore the articulation of the houses’ original materials and design, is greater here than in any other contiguous area in Brookline.… Beyond its buildings, Knowlson Avenue’s brick-paved street and mature street trees contribute to its strong evocation of Brookline as it appeared ca. 1930.

    That made it seem worth a visit, so last week, when old Pa Pitt happened to be in Brookline for other reasons, he made a pilgrimage to this street. It really is an unusually fine collection of houses, and the brick pavement does add to the laid-back atmosphere. (Among other things, bricks encourage drivers to slow down.)

    Brick

    The sun was shining from directly behind the houses on the southwest side of the street, so those will have to wait for another day. But Father Pitt has photographed every single house on the northeast side of the two blocks the architectural inventory mentioned, and here they are.

    2900 Knowlson Avenue

    This picturesque corner cottage in a style the architect probably called “French” actually faces Dorchester Avenue, but it is addressed to Knowlson Avenue, so it counts.

    Front door
    2900, with inflatable Christmas Tyrannosaurus
    Nikon COOLPIX P100.

    From the birth of Christ to the evolution of the first giant inflatable took nearly two thousand years. How did Christmas happen in all that time?

    To avoid weighing down the front page, we’ll put the rest of the pictures behind a link, so that you actually have to decide to look at them.

    Many more pictures…