Pittsburgh from above

As long time readers of this blog know that while I've called Washington, DC home for nearly 13 years I'm originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; home to Heinz ketchup, robber barons, Andy Warhol, and Mr. Rogers.

This past labor day weekend I had the chance to play tour-guide for a few friends on a quick trip to the city which is thankfully only a 4 hour drive from DC.  Seeing your 'home' from a visitor's viewpoint is always eye-opening and left me with a new-found appreciation for the city.

After a day spent at Kennywood (a historic and very pretty amusement park set amid gardens) we visited downtown Pittsburgh from above. No not from a helicopter but on one of the 2 remaining funicular's or "inclines" which lead one from the river's edge up to the neighborhood of Mt. Washington overlooking the city. I believe at one time there were 13 of these cars operating along the river, some of which could even carry cars!

We had typical "Pittsburgh weather" as I call it - overcast and drizzly - but the sun was able to breakout a few times to enjoy the view.

If you ever find yourself in Pittsburgh treat yourself to a round trip on one of the 'inclines'!

Santos Museum of Economic Botany

Sometimes museums which might sound rather dull (to design aficionados such as myself) can be held in the most astonishingly beautiful buildings. Such is the case with the Santos Museum of Economic Botany at the Botanic Gardens of Adelaide, Australia which my penpal recently sent to me.

This little classical gem of a building from 1879 was just extensively and sensitively renovated. The structure wasn't built as the Greek temple it resembles but rather as the science museum it remains.

The ceiling is a good example of how the Victorians were able to meld together decorative detailing with highly detailed and rather commercial looking steel structure. I love the gilded mechanical vent. If you can't hide it -make a feature of it!

The collections themselves are just as decorative as the building - these rather amazing Victorian models of mushrooms above are entirely made of wax! I remember even as a child going to the Buhl Planetarium in Pittsburgh which at the time was the science museum (now the Children's museum of Pittsburgh) and being more interested in the beautiful building than in the exhibits themselves. Design inspiration can come from the most surprising places, no?

The William Penn Hotel

Since opening in 1916, the William Penn Hotel has been the cultural hub for many of Pittsburgh's more elegant social events (my parents were married here as well as having their high school proms on the upper level ballrooms).

While the hotel might be a tad bit shabby these days, I never miss a chance of having a drink in the Terrace Room off the lobby seen here, and last weekend was no exception. Elegant crystal chandeliers, great old details and wood paneling, not to mention the sense of history here, all draw me in (as did the bartender's heavy pour!).

Do you have a favorite local hotel that you haunt?

New Life, Old House

While in Pittsburgh this past weekend, I was able to tour a beautiful old house in one of my favorite neighborhoods and see the process of reinvention.

Sitting on a large lot in a mature neighborhood, the house clearly has good bones but was beginning to look a little tired. The roof is currently covered in flat clay tiles, but during the renovation slate tiles will be used (you can see the roofing work on the left hand wing).

The houses in the neighborhood all are stately but their presence belies their relatively small footprint. They may be mansions but they're not mcmansion size: rather they are human scale.

The brickwork was amazing. A watertable lies under the first floor and the windows have brick casing. This window goes into the beautiful paneled library below.

Who doesn't want a room like this in their house? It's no surprise it is the only room to go through the renovation untouched.

Double doors lead you from the entry hall into the room.

This jib, or hidden, door leads back to the butler's pantry and kitchens.

The old doors found through out the house are beautiful painted wood, raised-panel doors with a very elegant design that I haven't come across very often in my work or studies.

Many old houses don't have the insulation required for modern mechanical units so the walls throughout the house are being built-in (see the 2x4 wall construction mounted on the old plaster walls). I loved finding remnants of original wallpaper throughout the house.

This old iron light fixture was found on the ceiling of the screen porch on the back.

In the screen porch you see all of the elements coming together; beautiful old wooden screen doors, interesting wood windows, beautiful brickwork and terracotta clay tiles. In this age of the tear-down and rebuild, it is refreshing to see someone working with what they have.

Allegheny Cemetery

Yes, I know this post may be better suited to Halloween than a post-Easter followup, but what can I say, I love old cemeteries! Nestled into the heart of the city of Pittsburgh is the historic 300 acre Allegheny Cemetery, originally started in 1845.

At first glance, the cemetery appears to be more of a park than a resting place for loved ones. In fact, even on the gloomy, rainy day I was there (I call it Pittsburgh weather) the grounds were filled with joggers, dog walkers and people enjoying the warm spring weather.

The park is a veritable architectural history lesson, featuring buildings and mausoleums in many different styles. The Butler street entrance, seen in the top photo, originally dates to 1870 with later additions, such as the odd Mansard roof.

This Neoclassical mausoleum seen above really caught my eye - so lovely! The verdigiris bronze doors really are show-stoppers. Unfortunately, the rear stained glass had been damaged and bricked over. However, if you peer through the glass in the door you can still see remnants.This Egyptian Revival mausoleum was interesting: I suspect the family buried there was very very stylish.

The numerous little Greek temples with Doric columns reminded me of a folly in an English Garden. While taking tea in a mausoleum might not sound so great (or be your 'cup of tea', har har) - there is very little difference between a European garden folly and these mausoleums!

A single person mausoleum: compare it to a studio in the city I suppose.

The interesting thing about the cemetary is that the sections are mixed. You'll find a tombstone from 1845 next to a mausoleum from 1915 next to a fresh grave. I find it so interesting to see how the styles changed. I thought these tombstones with the ogee scroll were very pretty. Is it morbid to choose your future tombstone: cemetery window shopping?

A cemetery this large has numerous entrances of course. This entry gate and pavilion along Penn Avenue was built in 1885, designed by Henry A. Macombs who had won a design competition for the structure. During construction, the design was modified so that the 135 foot tall bell tower would match the famous courthouse downtown by Henry Hobson Richardson.

Good design can be found in the most unexpected places!

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos: they were snapped with my phone!

Favorite Houses

Do you have a house, maybe from your past, that haunts your memory? For me it's this French styled mansion in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh on Amberson Avenue, probably from the 19-teens. While visiting this past weekend, I had to drive past to 'check up' on it.

I used to attend the church across the street and one of my favorite parts of Sundays was walking past this house. Glad to know it's still looking good!

Pictures taken with my new Droid incredible. Not 'incredible' photos but surprisingly good for a camera phone!

Choragic Monument of Lysicrates

What do Athens, Pittsburgh and Sydney all have in common? No, this is not a trick question! Each has a Choragic Monument of Lysicrates.The original monument was built near the Acropolis around 334 BC to commemorate the benefactor Lysicrate's sponsorship of dance. It was one of the first recorded uses of the correct Corinthian order for a monument; a style which would be copied for centuries to follow. Above is the original.I first became aware of the monument while back in college at drawing classes which were occasionally held at the Carnegie Museum of Art. The 'Hall of Architecture' , pictured above, was recently featured in a spread in the World of Interiors magazine (March 2010) with beautiful photographs by Simon Upton. The charcoal sketch at the top of the posting is one of the many I drew of the monument, my favorite in the room. I wish I had photographed all of my drawings better!

The design has been copied and modified over the years after being restored following the Greek war of Independence when it was badly damaged. Often it appears as a folly in a garden, at other times atop a dome and has even been stretched into a lighthouse in Portland, Maine.

Next time you see this classic design, you hopefully will remember its long history. Also make sure to check out the March 2010 issue of WOI for the charming article on the hall of architecture at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh!

Thank you, Examiner

Many thanks to Kerry Steele who, for some reason, thought I was interesting enough to feature in an article on examiner.com! If you're so inclined, you can read the interview HERE.

Telephone Booth collecting

While in Western PA with JCB and friends, we stopped by Kentuck Knob. Owned by Lord Palumbo, many of his collections are displayed at the Frank Lloyd Wright house and grounds.

One of many of these collections are British Telephone booths from the early 20th century.

They delightfully dot the grounds like items from The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. I kept looking around the corner for the lamp post! The brilliant scarlet color really stands out in stark contrast to the Pennsylvania green.

The most fun thing, you can actually go into them and be transported into a Murder Mystery, ala Hercule Poirot! Sad to admit this was my favorite thing at Kentuck Knob, other than the spectacular Wright designed house of course!

Fallingwater

Last weekend I toured Fallingwater, the famous Frank Lloyd Wright designed country house for Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr while in Western Pennsylvania. This is the famous view as seen from across the waterfall. I hadn't visited in a few years and was hit again by how modern this house really is: hard to believe it was designed in 1934. Edgar Kaufmann Jr. was studying with Frank LLoyd Wright (a low point of FLW's career where he taught to make ends meet) and convinced his parents to hire him to build a country house on their land in Bear Run, PA. The highlight of the land was a beautiful waterfall and Wright ingeniously recommended building ON the falls rather than facing them (the common approach). The Kaufmann's would escape here with friends or alone for years: lots of parties and drama, trust me! The commission revived Frank Lloyd Wright's career, even making the cover of Time magazine shortly after it was completed. Not bad for a private country house!

The living room connects you to the outside in many ways. You can hear the falls situated right right underneath, as seen below. The natural stone walls and flooring also connect you to the site as do the large open expanses of windows.

Numerous seating areas in this large entertaining space make for a great party room. The house is much smaller than you would think, about 2,500 sf, and this is the only public space. A very modern idea which many of us have in our own homes, one room for living room, den & dining room.

The Kaufmann's must have really kept Tiffany's in business. The house is littered with beautiful objects such as these bowls on the low tables in the sitting area.Unfortunately, an overly zealous maid had attacked them with a brillo pad, scrubbing the gilding off!

The falls are connected to the living room directly with a set of stairs which take you down to the stream right before the waterfall. The windows telescope back allowing access.One of the nicest features is that the house is set up as if the Kaufmann's might walk in at any moment with many personal items and fresh flowers in every room. As air conditioning was rare in 1934, cross ventilation was extremely important, even in the mountains of Pennsylvania. In the guest room on the 2nd floor, these small windows are located above the bed along with a large wall of glass facing south.Even Mrs. Kaufmann's bathroom is set up as if in use: much of this beautiful glass is from lalique. Extraordinary! Love the planters screening the bathroom from the master bedroom's terrace.More Tiffany pieces on Mrs. Kaufmann's dressing table.The lamp seen here on Mr. Kaufmann's nightstand is located throughout the house and was designed by FLW for the house. They're available for purchase in the giftshop: I was so tempted!!Mr. Kaufmann's desk in his bedroom (yes, seperate his and her bedrooms) had fresh flowers and a Tiffany inkwell: the most important thing to note is the notch in the desk to allow the window to open bringing in the sound of the falls.One of the most noted features of the home are the linen shelves with reeding to allow air to circulate: I wish I had this at home!Mrs. Kaufmann sadly committed suicide here at the house but her memory lives on. Besides being buried here with her husband, this photo of her with fresh flowers lies in her son's 3rd floor bedroom.My favorite part of the house is probably the ascent to the guest house, built a few years after the house which contains additional guest & servant quarters along with a carport.

The path of stairs is covered with this cantilevered roof which is really breathtaking: A true structural feat!The guest sitting room is really comfortable and as beautiful as the main house. One bonus feature is the taller ceiling! Additional guests could sleep on the built in sofa along the window wall as well as in the guest bedroom next door which housed many famous luminaries of the day, including Einstein.

Edgar Kaufmann, Jr realized the importance of this house and donated it to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in October, 1963 after his parents deaths. He remained an active supporter of the museum till his death when his ashes were strewn over the grounds, near his parents.