Tag: Rundbogenstil

  • Harry, George, Matilda, and Laura, plus Hilda and Herbert

    Matilda and Laura

    That sounds like the title for a very complicated farce, but these are actually the names of six apartment buildings in Oakland, all of which share a common style. First, on Oakland Avenue, we have Harry, George, Matilda, and Laura, which look like four buildings but are really two identical buildings, each divided in two parts. The romantic battlemented fronts give tenants the chance to imagine themselves as medieval lords and ladies fresh out of a Walter Scott novel. These fantasies were effective in selling apartments, and probably still are.

    Harry, George, Matilda, and Laura apartments
    Harry
    Harry in perspective
    Matilda and Laura

    Around the corner on Dawson Street are two other buildings that share many of the same details. They had the same owner—John Dimling (note the sign for the private alley Dimling Way in the picture above)—and we can guess that they were probably drawn by the same pencil. These are called Hilda and Herbert.

    Hilda

    Here the architect has responded to the challenge of a lot that is not rectangular with a pair of asymmetrical designs that resemble but do not repeat Harry, George, Matilda, and Laura.

    Herbert
    Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

    John Dimling was also the owner of the rainbow terrace on Dawson Street, and it is a good guess that the same architect was responsible for that as well. That architect was almost certainly Frederick Sauer, who is best remembered for his churches (like St. Stanislaus Kostka and St. Stephen Proto-Martyr) and his backyard whimsies, but who was very busy with all kinds of work. Father Pitt has not found these particular buildings in construction listings yet; but John Dimling was responsible for quite a bit of development in this part of Oakland, and in looking through the trade magazines for Mr. Dimling’s name, we find that, whenever an architect is mentioned, it is always and without exception F. C. Sauer during the period when these buildings went up (around the turn of the twentieth century). We therefore attribute them to Sauer until someone proves otherwise.


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  • Engine Company No. 26, Hill District

    Engine Company No. 26

    A former firehouse converted to apartments while keeping the distinctive outlines of the exterior.

    Firehouse Apartments

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  • Third Ward School, Dutchtown

    Third Ward Public School

    Designed by Frederick Sauer, this school was called the Latimer School after Allegheny was conquered by Pittsburgh. It was built in 1898.

    Date stone with date 1898

    In the 1980s it was converted to apartments under the name “The School House.” As far as old Pa Pitt knows, this was the first major conversion of a disused school to apartments in the city, and it showed that the idea was viable.

    Entrance

    The school was converted to apartments in the age of Postmodernism, and the designer of this canopy cleverly made it a kind of abstracted projection of the original entrance. Father Pitt caught the fabric part of the canopy on a bad hair day.

    Romanesque capital
    Latimer School
    North Avenue side of the school
    Nikon COOLPIX P100.

    The North Avenue side.

    Map.


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  • Battle of the Dutchtown Lutherans

    Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Matthaeus Kirche

    On the corner of North Avenue and Middle Street stands this small but imposing German Lutheran church, built in 1877. Father Pitt is fairly sure the Lutherans have gone, though the church site (last updated in 2010) is still on line. The Urban Impact ministry remains.

    Front of the church
    Date stone: Die Deutsche Evang. Lutherische Matthaeus Kirche Gebaut A. D. 1877

    “St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church, built 1877.”

    Entrance

    Connoisseurs of such things will note that this is a church with the sanctuary upstairs.

    Tower

    The hefty tower was added in a burst of prosperity about 25 years after the church was built.

    From the east
    St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Lutheran Church

    Meanwhile, just across narrow Middle Street was a different kind of Lutheran church. And although old Pa Pitt gave this article a humorous headline, he is fairly sure there was no battle. Pittsburgh learned the virtue of tolerance: those other Lutherans across the street may be completely wrong about everything that is most important in life, but they’re our neighbors, and we wave to them when we see them on the street.

    St. Mark’s Lutheran Church

    St. Mark’s was built in 1892. After its Lutheran congregation left, it was a Church of God in Christ until a few years ago. It has recently been expensively refurbished and painted black (it used to be painted brick red). Old Pa Pitt has not heard who was responsible for the refurbishing, but all the stained glass was removed, which is often the sign of a Pentecostal congregation moving in.

    St. Mark’s

    Except for the loss of the glass, the church is in very good shape externally, and it is a fine example of Pittsburgh Rundbogenstil—the round-arched German style that mixes classical and Romanesque elements.

    St. Mark’s
    Nikon COOLPIX P100; Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

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  • St. George’s Church, Allentown

    St. George’s Church

    Seen from Climax Street in Beltzhoover. Old Pa Pitt will disclose that there were bunches of utility cables in the way, but to make an idealized view of the building rather than the utility grid, he took them out. If there are blackouts in your idealized Beltzhoover, you know why.

    We have many more pictures of St. George’s in another article.

  • International Socialist Lyceum, Dutchtown

    Perry’s Hall

    This was called Perry’s Hall when it was built in 1898, according to a historic marker on the side. A retail store occupied the ground floor; the second floor was used for lodge meetings—a common arrangement in lodge buildings. Thus the rather grand side entrance, which would lead directly to the stairs up to the meeting hall.

    Side entrance

    By the 1920s, we see on the plat maps that the building was in use as an International Socialist Lyceum—which makes a much grabbier headline than “Perry’s Hall,” don’t you think?

    From a 1925 Hopkins plat map digitized at Historic Pittsburgh.

    We notice, incidentally, that the small frame buildings next door are marked as belonging to “F. Fabian.” We wonder whether that is a misunderstanding, and the property really belonged to the American Fabian Society, or whether it is one of those amusing coincidences in which history abounds but which would be too implausible for a novelist to invent.

    Perry’s Hall
    Nikon COOLPIX P100; Canon PowerShot SX150 IS.

    In more recent times, the building was the site of the lamented James Street Tavern, a venue for traditional jazz, for many years. It has just been splendidly restored, and the owner is offering it for lease. So there is no reason it could not be an International Socialist Lyceum again. All it needs is a socialist with enough money.


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  • St. Mary’s Priory, Dutchtown

    St. Mary’s Priory

    Built in 1888 to house the priests from the adjacent St. Mary’s Church, this is now the Priory Hotel.

    Inscription: “St. Mary’s Priory”
    Cross
    Entrance
    Sony Alpha 3000; Nikon COOLPIX P100.

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  • Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische St. Paulus Kirche, Uptown

    Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische St. Paulus Kirche

    The last time we looked at this church, it was undergoing some renovation. Here it is with a fresh coat of paint. It was perhaps a shame to cover up the original blond bricks, but in a transitional neighborhood like Uptown, paint is certainly the easiest way to keep a building looking sharp and fresh. The painting was done with care to leave the stone trim unpainted, and the church looks very good.

    This church was also known as Second German Lutheran, and to English-speaking neighbors it was known as the Dutch Lutheran Church. It now belongs to an Anglican ministry called Shepherd’s Heart.

    Second St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
    Fujifilm FinePix HS10.

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  • Emich Apartments, Mexican War Streets

    Emich Apartments

    A grand apartment house that would have been grander before it lost its cornice in front. Another “Emich Apartments,” taller and grander, stood where Allegheny General Hospital is today; both were named for developer W. A. Emich. This one was built on the site of the old Second Ward School in the city of Allegheny.

    Front of the building
    Entrance
    Ionic capital
    Kodak EasyShare Z981; Sony Alpha 3000.

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  • Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield

    Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield

    Carson Street on the South Side is reputed to be one of the best-preserved Victorian streetscapes in America. Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield may not come quite up to that standard, but it is probably second in Pittsburgh. The commercial district was built up in the 1880s and 1890s. Like Carson Street, it preserves many Victorian commercial buildings, along with a peppering of later styles. These pictures are all of the northeast side, because the sun was behind the southwest side.

    4723 Liberty Avenue

    A good example of the most basic form of Pittsburgh Rundbogenstil, the German hybrid of classical and Romanesque architecture that old Pa Pitt mentions every chance he gets because he likes to say “Rundbogenstil.” In the 1800s, before it became the most Italian of our Italian neighborhoods, Bloomfield was mostly German.

    4727 Liberty Avenue

    A Second Empire building from the 1880s.

    4753 Liberty Avenue

    This building dates from the 1890s. It probably had a date and inscription in that crest at the top of the façade, but later owners obliterated the evidence.

    4729 Liberty Avenue

    We saw this 1924 building before at dusk; here it is in bright sunlight. The bright light gives us a chance to appreciate the decorative details with a long lens.

    Balcony
    Balcony
    Sidewalk of Liberty Avenue
    Kodak EasyShare Z981.

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