Father Pitt

Tag: North Avenue (Wilkinsburg)

  • Graff Building, Wilkinsburg

    Graff Building, front elevation

    This is an unusually interesting building, and old Pa Pitt wishes he could say something more definite about it than that. It was built in 1912, and it bears a plaque from the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation saying it is “attributed to Frederick Scheibler.” However, Scheibler’s biographer Martin Aurand lists it among the “misattributions,” and old Pa Pitt’s eye sees nothing Scheiblery about it, other than that it is a striking building in an East End neighborhood.

    Central section

    Since the construction listings we have found mention no architect, saying only that it was built for the General Improvement Co. of Wilkinsburg, Father Pitt will either have to remain silent or indulge in wild speculation. And since remaining silent has never been among his virtues, Father Pitt will suggest that Wilkinsburg’s own Milligan & Miller might have been the architects. They designed numerous apartment buildings in Wilkinsburg and nearby; they watched the latest trends from Chicago and adapted them to local tastes; they liked broad eaves like the ones on this building; and several of their buildings have a narrow masonry stripe setting off the top floor.

    Balcony and French doors

    The huge bright French doors with surrounding windows are the most distinctive feature of this building.

    Graff Building
    Graff Building
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS; Samsung Galaxy A15 5G.
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  • Royal Oak Apartments, Wilkinsburg

    Royal York Apartments

    A modernistic apartment building in a good state of preservation. Father Pitt sees nothing oakish or royal about it in particular; the same building could have been called the Monte Carlo or the Emperor Montezuma or the Thomas Jefferson with just as much stylistic appropriateness. But the name is important in selling the idea of the building to tenants: you will be able to say, “I live at the Royal Oak,” and that sounds much more impressive than “815 North Avenue.”

    Entrance
    Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.

    Correction: In an earlier version of this article, old Pa Pitt had misread the name on the awning as “Royal York.”

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