Father Pitt

Tag: Riverview Avenue

  • Two Georgian Mansions on Riverview Avenue, Observatory Hill

    House on Riverview Avenue

    These two houses both show an unusually ornate, almost baroque, form of Georgian style, and we imagine they were drawn by the same hand. They both now belong to the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese.

    Porch

    The half-round projection on the front porch makes both an impressive and a welcoming entrance.

    Porch
    Dormer and baroque scroll

    Picking out your baroque details in this color of paint is the next best thing to using actual gold leaf.

    Front elevation of the house
    Carriage house

    The carriage house matches the main house, right down to the distinctive lintels over the windows.

    66 Riverview Avenue

    This house, which is now the chancery for the Archdiocese, has suffered a few more alterations. The big square window in the gable is not old Pa Pitt’s favorite thing, but it probably makes for a bright storage room.

    Chancery
    Chancery
    Chancery
    Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S90.

    Regular readers might have been disappointed if we had not included a good utility cable.

    Comments

  • Watson Memorial Presbyterian Church, Observatory Hill

    Watson Memorial Presbyterian Church

    Designed by Allison & Allison, this stony Romanesque church was renamed Riverview Presbyterian in 1977, when, we suppose, no one remembered Watson anymore. After sitting vacant for a while, it now has a nondenominational congregation called Pittsburgh Higher Ground, and we wish them long life and prosperity in this beautiful building.

    Front entrance
    Riverview Presbyterian Church
    Tower and dormers

    Old Pa Pitt thinks writers on architecture tend to throw the name “Richardsonian” in front of the term “Romanesque” far too thoughtlessly, but there is no question about this church. It is very Richardsonian, right down to the little triangular dormers on the roof. Compare them to the ones on Richardson’s famous Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Allegheny West:

    Emmanuel Episcopal Church

    This is the architectural equivalent of a direct quotation.

    Pittsburgh Higher Ground
    Sony Alpha 3000; Samsung Galaxy A15 5G.