Chatham University & Woodland Road A guide to one of Pittsburgh’s most historic neighborhoods
July 2009
Index A History of Chatham University ........................................................ 3-5 Academic Buildings ............................................................................ 6-7 Administrative Facilities .........................................................................8 Residence Halls .......................................................................................9 Eden Hall Farm Campus .......................................................................10 Mellon Board Room .............................................................................. 11 Chatham Eastside ..................................................................................12 Rachel Carson, Class of 1929 ................................................................13 Howe-Childs Gate House ................................................................ 14-15 Tiffany Alumnae Memorial Window .....................................................16 Chatham University Arboretum ...................................................... 17-20 Campus Wireless Network ....................................................................21 Woodland Road .....................................................................................22 Significant Woodland Road Homes .......................................................23 Woodland Road Map .............................................................................24 What’s Within Walking Distance of Chatham University? ....................25
Chatham University Founded in 1869, Chatham University is a coed university with a women’s college as its historic heart. Chatham University provides students with a solid education built upon strong academics, public leadership and global understanding. Chatham’s 39-acre arboretum campus is located on historic Woodland Road in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood. Students may easily access Pittsburgh’s dynamic career, cultural, and entertainment opportunities and share in the educational and social offerings of the other nine area colleges and universities. The University houses three distinctive Colleges: Chatham College for Women includes academic and cocurricular programs for undergraduate women and embodies the traditions and rituals of one of the nation’s oldest residential colleges for women. The College for Graduate Studies offers women and men both masters and doctoral programs. Programs within the College for Graduate Studies include concentrations in art and architecture, business, counseling psychology, health sciences and nursing, teaching, and writing. The College for Continuing and Professional Studies provides online and hybrid undergraduate and graduate degree programs for women and men, certificate programs, and community programming. History of the University Chatham University was chartered on December 11, 1869 as Pennsylvania Female College. Chatham was founded to provide women with an education comparable to that which men could receive at the time at ―colleges of the first class.‖ The Reverend William Trimble Beatty, pastor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church, led a group of like-minded Pittsburghers in making the dream of solid academic training for women a reality. The founders were somewhat ahead of their time: 1869 was the year that the National Association of Women’s Suffrage was established and the year John Stuart Mill published The Subjection of Women. Pennsylvania Female College occupied the largest private residence in Allegheny County, the George Berry mansion atop Fifth Avenue in Shadyside. Fifteen faculty and just more than 100 students occupied the 11-acre campus. Chatham was one of the earliest liberal arts colleges for women established originally as a college rather than as a seminary. It is one of four eastern colleges founded for women that still limit the granting of baccalaureate degrees to women. In 1890 the name was changed to Pennsylvania College for Women (PCW) and in 1955 to Chatham College in honor of William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham and Pittsburgh’s namesake. Ultimately in 2007 the institution was recognized as Chatham University by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Throughout its history, Chatham has been a pioneer in curricular progress, adapting its educational programs to meet society’s changing needs while maintaining intellectual integrity. The first curriculum required all students to be proficient in Latin, French, or German; higher mathematics; history; English; natural sciences; systematic Bible history; and Anglo-Saxon. In succeeding years, the College added electives ranging from modern literature to family living, and reduced the number of required courses. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham
Shortly after the turn of the 20th century, the progressive social service certification program - which uniquely blended classroom teaching with service work in the community - was developed. This program was the pioneer for Chatham’s service-learning initiatives of today and
highlighted the understanding and need for continued social service work among students and alumnae for decades to come. Pennsylvania College for Women also had an active social life with rich and varied performances by student groups and a May Day festival that drew crowds in the thousands to campus. In the 1920s, new curricular requirements emerged in English composition, science, and contemporary history. These and other changes subsequently led to Chatham’s recognition as a Class A College by the Middle States Commission in Higher Education and the American Association of University Women. By the 1940s, the faculty had reorganized the curriculum into lower and upper divisions with the lower division focusing on the major fields of interest. Post-World War II revisions developed a required basic curriculum that included courses in the arts, modern society, natural sciences, speech, and philosophy. During this period Chatham joined the ranks of only a handful of colleges across the country in its awarding of Bachelor of Science degrees. In the 1970s, Chatham again adapted its curriculum to reflect new career needs for women, adding major programs in areas such as communication, administration, and management. The Gateway program for women over the age of 23 seeking a baccalaureate degree was one of the first such programs in the country designed to address the needs of the adult woman student. On May 1, 2008—one year after having been granted University status by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania—Chatham received a gift unequaled in its history: the Eden Hall Farm Campus from Eden Hall Foundation. Originally a farm and retreat for the working women of Pittsburgh, Eden Hall Farm will be an academic eco-campus accessible to Chatham students and also a community resource for the residents of Pittsburgh’s North Hills. The nearly 400-acre campus will be a living laboratory for environmental programs, both undergraduate and graduate and will support a variety of educational, environmental, women’s leadership and community programs. Chatham’s vision for Eden Hall Farm Campus is to make it the most unique learning and living environment on any university campus. Chatham Today The Chatham University experience is dedicated to enabling its graduates to make an impact on the world around them. A social consciousness, an awareness and understanding of the environment, an interest in public service, a strong grounding in the sciences and liberal arts, and the ability to communicate effectively are characteristics that today’s Chatham women share with 1929 alumna Rachel Carson. The undergraduate and graduate student body of almost 2,100 represents twenty-eight states and eighteen other countries. Members of minority groups and international students compose 20 percent of the undergraduate student body. Resident and commuting students participate actively in the numerous professional, academic, social, and special-interest organizations at the University. Chatham’s outstanding liberal arts base, combined with the capstone experience of the ―senior tutorial‖ – an original research project guided one-on-one by a Chatham professor – provides an excellent bridge to graduate and professional schools. The University offers especially strong preparation for law school, medical school, and science-based graduate programs as well as the University’s own graduate degree programs. Agreements with other institutions such as Carnegie Mellon University offer students opportunities to obtain both a liberal arts and engineering degree as well as masters degrees after only one additional year of study. Chatham students also may elect to earn teacher certification – for early childhood, elementary, secondary, or environmental education – while they complete an undergraduate degree. Students develop their personal, professional, and leadership skills to the fullest potential through internships, study abroad, service-learning, leadership training opportunities, and personal development seminars. Most students complete at least two internships or career-related experiences in their fields. Recent examples include internships with Mellon Financial Corporation, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Historical Center of
Western Pennsylvania, WPGH-Fox 53, Allegheny County Children, Youth and Family Services, and Interscope Technologies. Chatham Abroad, a multi-week travel experience with classmates and faculty, has taken students to the Galápagos Islands, Belize, Morocco, Egypt, Italy, Spain, France, Ireland, England, Russia, Norway, Iceland, Greece, and Haiti. In 2000, Chatham’s Study Abroad Program was ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. At Chatham College for Women, each student can personalize her curriculum by choosing from more than 30 majors in the sciences, social services, humanities, fine and performing arts, pre-professional programs, and interdisciplinary areas such as environmental studies and global policy studies. Students also may create interdisciplinary or double-major programs. Through the Five-Year Masters Program, students may earn a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in as few as five years. The College for Graduate Studies offers coeducational graduate programs in accounting, biology, business administration, counseling psychology, creative writing, film and digital technology, interior architecture, landscape architecture, landscape studies, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, and teaching. The College for Continuing and Professional Studies offers RN-to-BSN and Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees online, as well as graduate degrees in education, the health sciences, and professional writing. Following fifteen years of growth in enrollment, endowment, academic and co-curricular programs, and physical plant, Dr. Barazzone and the Board of Trustees successfully petitioned the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for university status. The institution was officially recognized as Chatham University in April 2007. The new identity caps a decade of growth in enrollment, programs and infrastructure that has transformed the Pittsburgh institution. Chatham offered undergraduate degrees to women only until 1994, when it offered its first graduate program for women and men. Chatham now offers 23 masters level programs and four doctoral level programs, all applied degrees, for women and men. Of Chatham’s 1,400 degree-seeking students, more than 800 are graduate students. Chatham University prepares its students for a lifetime of personal and professional achievements – unprecedented opportunities, challenges, and leadership roles that Chatham’s founders only could have imagined in 1869. Chatham proudly continues to build its history and tradition of excellence in women’s education and meeting society’s changing needs.
Academic Buildings The Art and Design Center (2004) is the University’s former Gymnasium (1952). Designed by Ingham & Boyd in the Collegiate Georgian style, the building fronts the Athletic Field and Lodge. The adaptive reuse of the building was successfully accomplished by the Pittsburgh firm of Rothschild Doyno Architects. The main entry houses offices for arts and design division faculty as well as Chatham’s slide archives. The sculpture and ceramics studios, including a kiln room, now occupy the building’s former dance studio. The main gymnasium floor – which still features the basketball court lines – houses studios for painting, printmaking, interior architecture, and landscape architecture, as well as a computer lab, and is flooded with natural light from the original pane windows. A steel and glass bridge overlooking the studios provides student exhibition space and connects two classrooms and a kitchenette. The Arthur E. Braun Hall of Administration (1953) was named in honor of Arthur E. Braun, a member and chair of the Board of Trustees for fifty years. Designed by Ingham & Boyd in the Collegiate Georgian style, it is part of three conjoined buildings commonly referred to as ―Braun-Falk-Coolidge‖ and which completed the academic quadrangle first envisioned by Mellon & Smith in their 1929 campus plan. Braun Hall contains the Student Services Center, the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship, the Pennsylvania Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy, the Pittsburgh Teachers Institute, and faculty offices and classrooms. The Media Center includes two regular and one graphic arts darkrooms, slide editing room, video editing room, and writing laboratory. The Athletic and Fitness Center (2004) is an advanced four-level athletic facility designed by the St. Louis, Missouri firm of Hastings + Chivetta. On the lower level is an eight-lane competition swimming pool, whirlpool/sauna/steam room, squash courts, and rock-climbing wall. The athletic training room contains a hydrotherapy room and complete line of rehabilitation equipment. The second level has a smart classroom with an adjoining human performance laboratory. The fitness and cardiovascular rooms contain treadmills, elliptical machines, bikes, free weights, and circuit strength machines. The dance and aerobics studio is a multi-function space that houses Pilates, martial arts, aerobic classes, and dance courses. On the third level, the gymnasium seats 600 spectators. Finally, the fourth level offers a threelane walking track and smoothie bar where students may purchase healthy snacks and beverages. Comfortable seating is conveniently located throughout the center for students to relax with friends, watch television, or use a personal laptop to wirelessly connect to the Internet. The Athletic and Fitness Center also serves as the congregation space for large campus events and traditions, such as Commencement. Campbell Memorial Chapel (1949) was designed by Ingham & Boyd in the Collegiate Georgian style. The landscape focal point for the 1947-53 campus complex, the formal courtyard in front features a stone retaining wall and balustrade which overlook the grass slope leading to Woodland Road. The Chapel was refurbished and rededicated in 1984 to the memory of Mary Campbell Eckhardt, Class of 1943, and her father, Robert Davis Campbell, former member of the Board of Trustees. The large auditorium seats 600 and contains a completely rebuilt four-keyboard Moller organ, considered to be one of the finest such instruments in the country. On the ground floor of the chapel are classrooms and graduate health science instructional laboratories.
Cora Helen Coolidge Hall of Humanities (1953), adjacent to Falk Hall, was named in memory of Cora Helen Coolidge, dean of education and professor of English from 1906 to 1917 and president from 1922 to 1933. The building contains the Rachel Carson Institute, classrooms, psychology research facilities, a psychology suite and labs, faculty offices, and the Margaret H. Sanger Lecture Hall, a 100-seat multimedia classroom.
Dilworth Hall (1959) was built as a residence hall and named in honor of Joseph Dilworth, a founder of and financial advisor to Chatham. Designed by Curry & Martin in the Georgian Revival style, Dilworth Hall today houses offices and classrooms for the health science programs including occupational therapy, nursing, physician assistant studies, and physical therapy.
Laura Falk Hall of Social Studies (1953) adjoins Braun and Coolidge halls and was named in memory of Laura Falk, Pittsburgh benefactor and humanitarian. It contains the copy center, faculty lounge, student lounge, classrooms, and faculty offices.
James Laughlin Music Hall (1931) was named in memory of the first president of the Board of Trustees and one of the University’s founders. Designed by Mellon & Smith in the Collegiate Georgian style and completed in only eight months, Laughlin originally served as the Library. Laughlin Music Hall now houses the Welker Room, Founders’ Room, music faculty offices, and the College for Continuing and Professional Studies. The brass chandeliers in the Welker Room were replicated based on a photograph from a 1950s-era Pittsburgh Press feature, while the Founders’ Room houses two doors from Berry Hall, the University’s first building, which was demolished in 1952.
Jennie King Mellon Library (1973) was named in memory of Mrs. Richard B. Mellon, class of 1887. Designed by Johnstone, McMillan & Associates with landscape design by Shurcliff & Merrill (note the outdoor amphitheater adjacent to the theater), the Library contains more than 87,962 volumes, and 700 subscriptions to online and print periodicals. Housed within the Library are the University’s Information Technology department and main computing facility. Fully renovated in 2001, the Library includes multimedia computer classrooms. The Edward Danforth Eddy Theatre (1974), adjacent to the Jennie King Mellon Library, is named in honor of the College’s president from 1960 to 1977. The 285-seat, tiered auditorium has a large proscenium stage and full audio-visual equipment.
The Science Complex is comprised of the Louise C. Buhl Hall of Science (1929) and the Science Laboratory Building (2000). Buhl Hall was erected in honor of Mrs. Henry Buhl Jr., who with her husband promoted higher education programs for women. Designed by Mellon & Smith in the Collegiate Georgian style, Buhl hall was the first of the ―Old Quad‖ buildings and once housed the campus bells. The building was renovated and expanded to include the Science Complex as part of the Keep The Vision Splendid Campaign. It contains joint faculty/student research laboratories; an Ecology/Botany Lab adjoining a greenhouse; computer suites and laboratories; and modern instruments such as NMR, FTIR, AA, and UV-visible and fluorescence spectrophotometers, GC, HPLC, and video demonstration systems. The laboratory building contains the Kresge Atrium; organic chemistry labs; biology labs; Beckwith Lecture Hall; and a shared instrument laboratory. The Kresge Atrium houses the restored 1889 Tiffany Alumnae Memorial Window, funded through the generosity of Marion Swannie Rand ’45, and preserves the rear façade of Buhl Hall.
Administrative Facilities Beatty House (1896, 1904, restored and rehabilitated 1998), originally known as ―Sunset Hill,‖ was built by Mary Childs and William Holdship Rea, a longtime trustee. The architectural style is a significant example of Colonial Revival and shingle-style domestic architecture, and is similar to the popular shingled bungalows designed by H.H. Richardson. The 1904 additions were designed by Alden & Harlow. Beatty House was acquired by Chatham in 1948 and remodeled as a residence hall. In 1998, Beatty House, also known as Alumni House, was renovated again and is now the home of the Office of Institutional Advancement (Alumni Affairs, University Communications and Development). Berry Hall (1895, restored 2000) was purchased by the University in 1962 and named in honor of George A. Berry, a member of the first Board of Trustees. An example of the Federal-style revival architecture seen in New England, Berry Hall serves as the home of the Office of Admissions.
Gregg House (1906), located at 121 Woodland Road, has been the residence of Chatham presidents since 1945 when it was given to the University by John R. Gregg’s descendants. The house was designed in the Federal Revival style by Thomas Hannah and was first occupied by President Paul Anderson and his family.
Lindsay House (1910) was built as a home for Chatham’s seventh president, Henry Drennan Lindsay and his family. The structure was designed by Thomas Hannah in the Arts & Crafts and Tudor styles. The home of Chatham presidents through 1945, Lindsay House is now home to the Division of Writing, Literary, and Cultural Studies for both the undergraduate and graduate programs.
Andrew W. Mellon Hall (1902) was designed by MacClure & Spahr in the Tudor Revival style and originally built by George M. Laughlin. The home was purchased by Andrew W. Mellon, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, in 1917. Mellon expanded the home and also engaged the Olmsted Brothers to landscape the grounds. Donated to Chatham in 1941 by Andrew’s son Paul, it now houses the President’s Office, Academic Affairs, Offices of the Deans of Chatham College for Women and the College for Graduate Studies, and the Office of Finance and Administration. First-floor living areas are used for social events and meetings; administrative offices are located on the first, second, and third floors. The basement includes the broadcast studio and meeting space. The Paul R. Anderson Dining Hall (1972), an addition to Mellon Hall, is named for the former College President (1945-1960) and was designed by Johnston, McMillan & Associates.
Mellon Carriage House, part of the original Andrew W. Mellon estate, is designed in the Tudor Revival style and once served as stables, garage, and servants’ quarters. It now houses a 24/7 student lounge, the Offices of Student Affairs and Student Activities, the post office, the Chatham bookstore, and Chatham Student Government.
Mary Acheson Spencer House (1949) was built by the University and designed by Ingham & Boyd in the simplified Colonial Revival style and is stylistically related to their nationallysignificant Chatham Village of 1931. Named to honor the 1883 Chatham alumna who was a member of the Board of Trustees for 50 years, Spencer House was originally the Dean’s House and now is home to the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs .
Residence Halls Fickes House (1927) is a Tudor Revival designed by MacClure & Spahr and was once owned by aluminum pioneer Edward Stanton Fickes. The house was donated to Chatham in 1943 and utilized as a residence hall. In 1946 Ingham and Boyd enlarged the home with a three-story structure that joined the original home and carriage house. Significant features include carved bargeboards on raking eaves, ornate first floor spaces and a grand staircase. Fickes houses just over 100 residents and includes a computer laboratory, living room, television room, study area, sun porch, patio, recreation area, and laundry facilities.
Marjory Rea Laughlin House (1912) was built by George M. Laughlin Jr. and is a significant example of Tudor Revival designed by Philadelphia architect Edgar V. Seeler. Given to Chatham in 1967, Laughlin houses just over 30 students and is distinguished by its unconventional first floor layout with side entrance, large entrance hall, and grand staircase. The student rooms upstairs progress in a maze-like fashion, and the home is appointed with leaded glass and wooden paneling throughout. Laughlin House includes a computer laboratory, living room, television room, study area, patio, kitchen, and laundry facilities.
Julia and James Rea House (1912) was built by James C. and Julia Dodge Rea and donated to Chatham in the late 1960s. Designed by MacClure & Spahr with rich wooden paneling and many fireplaces, the 23-room brick home is modeled on a large English country house and is significant as an example of Tudor design. Rea House accommodates 28 students and includes a computer laboratory, living room, dining room, television room, solarium, patio, kitchen, and laundry facilities.
Woodland Hall (1909), the largest residence hall on campus, was designed by Longfellow, Alden & Harlow incorporating both Arts & Crafts and Tudor styles, and was the University’s first freestanding campus building and dedicated residence hall. In 1930 a south wing was added and in 1952 a further addition created a U-shaped building that houses 116 students. Woodland includes a computer laboratory, living room, television room, study rooms, and laundry facilities. It also houses Student Health Services, Counseling Services, Physician Assistant Studies classrooms, a coffee shop, and the Chatham University Art Gallery.
Eden Hall Farm Campus Originally a farm and retreat for the working women of Pittsburgh, Eden Hall Farm was the vision of Sebastian Mueller (1860-1938) who immigrated to Pittsburgh from his native Germany in 1884 to work for his cousin Henry J. Heinz in his fledgling food processing operation. Mr. Mueller spent more than five decades working for what was then called ―The House of Heinz.‖ He headed the company’s manufacturing operations, served on its board of directors and ran the organization during Mr. Heinz’ absence. Sebastian Mueller won the respect and gratitude of not only the company’s founder but also its legion of working women. Mr. Mueller was generous in providing Heinz’ female employees with medical care and financial assistance – long before the existence of corporate health care plans or government programs. His estate – Eden Hall Farm – became the retreat for generations of Pittsburgh’s working women and served as a memorial to the Mueller’s two daughters, EIsa and Alma, both of whom died in childhood. Having no heirs, Mr. Mueller willed his entire estate, including Eden Hall Farm, to serve as a vacation and respite destination for the working and retired women of the H.J. Heinz Company, as well as for the working women of western Pennsylvania. Chatham University received the 388-acre Eden Hall Farm in Richland Township, Pennsylvania from Eden Hall Foundation on May 1, 2008. The gift established the largest university campus in Allegheny County and will enable Chatham to expand its academic and environmental programs for the University’s nearly 2,100 students and for the North Hills community at large. Eden Hall Farm Campus will be an academic eco-campus and a living laboratory for environmental programs, both undergraduate and graduate. Chatham’s vision for Eden Hall Farm Campus is to make it the most unique learning and living environment on any university campus.
Clockwise from top: The iconic Eden Hall Farm barn and gatekeeper’s house; the Mueller House; and the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Lodge. Photos by Duane Rieder.
The Mellon Board Room Upon purchasing the former George Laughlin House in 1917, Andrew W. Mellon performed significant renovations to the house, including the installation of a bowling alley and indoor swimming pool featuring a vaulted Guastavino ceiling. Guastavino’s remarkable tile system was popular because they enabled structures to span great distances without the weight of wood or iron. The relatively thin tiles (the Mellon Board Room tiles are approximately ¾‖ thick) were also fireproof and easy to transport. The structure of the pool and bowling alley were inserted inside the existing walls of the terrace, creating what is believed to be one of the earliest indoor residential pools in the United States, and possibly the first west of the Allegheny Mountains. After Mellon Hall was given to Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) in 1941 by Andrew’s son Paul, the house was used first as a residence hall and later as the main administration building. The bowling alley was converted into the Broadcast Studio in 2003, and the pool continued to be utilized by students until the opening of the Athletic and Fitness Center in 2004. The pool itself was drained since years of humidity were having a deleterious effect on Mellon Hall’s exquisite woodwork. Since access to the new Broadcast Studio and pool area were limited to a winding tunnel with several sets of steps that descend from the house’s lower level, and a steep set of steps from the lower-level terrace to the pool, an adaptive use of the old pool would solve accessibility issues while creating a multiMellon Board Room (Photo: Robert J. Cooley) functional and column-free space. In 2006 the University engaged Rothschild Doyno Architects to develop an adaptive reuse plan for the former pool and terrace. The project would renovate the pool into a multi-purpose meeting room while preserving the historic Guastavino tiles. Another requirement was to create a handicapped-accessible entrance to serve both the Mellon Board Room and Broadcast Studio. This accessible entrance required significant reconfiguration of the landscape in order to meet the requirements for accessible paths while maintaining several legacy trees planted by the Mellons as part of their landscape plan, originally laid out by the renowned landscape architects, the Olmsted Brothers. Dedicated on October 18, 2007 the Mellon Board Room and Terrace add a stunningly modern, yet classical motif to the 110-year-old Mellon Hall. The sandstone terrace balustrade and other upper terrace materials which deteriorated over time were replaced with replicated balusters and finishings in a sturdier limestone. The new entablature surrounding the terrace is carved with Chatham University’s historic names and their founding dates – Pennsylvania Female College (1869); Pennsylvania College for Women (1890); Chatham College (1955) and Chatham University (2007). One of the two staircases that led from the terrace to Mellon Pond was converted into a sloped landscape planter and a new handicapped-accessible path now connects the building to adjacent campus paths. Trees significant to the Chatham Arboretum were protected throughout the project, and the landscape is now further enhanced with the historic trees framing the new limestone-arched main entrance. The redesigned landscape opens new vistas to the rear of Mellon Hall and new perspectives for some of the Chatham Arboretum’s most significant trees, including a Japanese Laceleaf Maple near the main entrance. The new lower patio wraps the building, providing outdoor spaces to compliment the adapted facility. The lowering of this surrounding land also provided two sides of the former pool space to receive much needed natural light. The existing sandstone foundation at the lower terrace walls was exposed, bush hammered and pointed, utilizing existing stone as well as stone recovered during the demolition and excavation process. Three original arched windows on the north façade were covered with mechanical equipment, but a study of historic photographs revealed their existence. The new design adapts those openings for new windows and doors to allow direct access to the north terrace which overlooks the pond. The doors and windows were designed and hand-crafted by Tadao Arimoto of Arimoto Design and Woodworking, Inc., from FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified mahogany, ensuring that the mahogany was sustainably harvested for use. Inside, the Guastavino ceiling and walls were re-grouted, replacing the old grout which had turned nearly black from years of industrial pollution that permeated many Pittsburgh homes. Some tiles were replaced, while all were cleaned to reveal Guastavino’s architectural success in striking detail. New lighting was installed to both illuminate the interior and accentuate the vaulted ceiling. Carpeting and fabric-covered acoustic wall panels were designed to moderate the sound – often difficult to control in similar vaulted rooms – and also to bring greater warmth to the large hall. New HVAC, sound and lighting systems were installed to make the new Mellon Board Room a flexible space, while the old pool itself still exists – covered, not filled in – under the main floor and serves as the mechanical room.
Mellon Board Room Patio (Photo: Robert J. Cooley)
The Mellon Board Room and Terrace provide new gathering spaces for the University community but most importantly preserve a significant part of Pittsburgh’s and Chatham University’s shared histories. Tile and light detail (Photo: Adam
J. Zacherl)
Chatham Eastside Because of rapid growth in several of the University’s graduate programs, Chatham University in September 2008 acquired 6585 Penn Avenue, a large office building at the corner of Penn Avenue and Washington Blvd. in Pittsburgh’s fast-growing East End . The 250,000 square foot building, named Chatham Eastside and less than a mile from the University’s historic Woodland Road location, satisfies several programming space needs and provides the University with enhanced space flexibility and capacity. The University’s Interior Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Physician Assistant Studies degree programs moved into more than 50,000 square feet in summer 2009, and the University plans to apply for LEED Silver status for the construction project. Expansion to Chatham Eastside will allows the University to accommodate enrollment growth, which has quadrupled since 1994, while helping to preserve the beauty and special qualities of the Woodland Road campus that have captivated generations of students and community members alike.
Top: Chatham Eastside. Bottom: Physical Therapy students in the new lab space.
Rachel Louise Carson ’29 (1907-1964)
R
achel Carson’s fascination with the natural world began on her family’s farm in Springdale,
Pennsylvania, not far from Pittsburgh. As a young girl, she dreamed of being a writer. At Chatham University (at that time known as Pennsylvania College for Women) she was introduced to biology by Professor Mary Scott Skinker. ―I have always wanted to write,‖ she said at the time, ―and biology has given me something to write about. I will try to make animals in the woods or waters, where they live, as alive to others as they are to me.‖ She changed her major from English to biology and graduated in 1929 magna cum laude. Rachel Carson later received a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, and worked as a marine biologist in the Fish and Wildlife Service and turned her attention to writing. In three books, Under the Sea Wind, The Sea Around Us, and Edge of the Sea, Rachel established herself as one of America’s great poets of the natural world. She brought to life the beauty and mystery of the sea and its creatures to millions of readers. Her eloquent and poetic style of scientific writing made her one of the great champions Rachel L. Carson, PCW Class of 1929 of the living world. The Sea Around Us topped the best seller list for 86 weeks and made Rachel world-famous. She received the Gold Medal of the New York Zoological Society, the John Burroughs Medal, the Gold Medal of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia and the National Book Award. She is best remembered for Silent Spring, published in 1962, which alerted the world to the dangers of pesticides and their damage to the environment. With the eloquence of a poet, the logic of a scientist, and the insight of a naturalist, Rachel described how the new pesticides were ravaging the biological systems they were sprayed upon, and created vibrant images of living systems in order to do so. During her lifetime, she had to weather a storm of controversy and abuse as a result of Silent Spring. She stayed her course and testified before the Senate about the need to eliminate the unsafe use of pesticides. Silent Spring, which could have been written as a book about death, was instead a more revealing book about life than any before it. Rachel Carson died at the age of 57 from breast cancer, just two years after the publication of Silent Spring. Although she did not live long enough to witness the fruits of her effort, her work led to the establishment of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the banning of DDT, and the groundswell of public opinion that formed the modern environmental movement. In 1999, the Modern Library named Silent Spring the fifth most important nonfiction book published in the 20th century. Both during and after her lifetime, Rachel Carson received recognition for her work. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY and was recognized by TIME magazine as one of The Century’s 100 Greatest Minds. In addition, the Pennsylvania State Legislature proclaimed May 27, 1999 as Rachel Carson Day in Pennsylvania. By the 100th anniversary of her birth on May 27, 2007, her alma mater championed several efforts to recognize Rachel Carson in Allegheny County. Chatham and its president, Esther Barazzone, petitioned Allegheny County Council and Allegheny Chief Executive Dan Onorato to rename the Ninth Street Bridge in downtown Pittsburgh after Rachel Carson. The resolution passed unanimously in December 2005 and the bridge—which crosses the Allegheny River downstream from Rachel Carson’s childhood home in Springdale—was dedicated as the Rachel Carson Bridge on April 23, 2006. Chatham faculty and staff designed a special full-page op-ed tribute to Rachel Carson in the May 27, 2007 edition of the Pittsburgh PostGazette. Part of the tribute included the following by Rachel Carson’s biographer, Linda Lear: ―Rachel Carson was an evolutionist who found no inconsistency in celebrating a divine design. She was a spiritualist who needed no theological creed when there was the promise of immortality in the endless recycling of all life in the sea. Ultimately her protest was against existential meaninglessness, against the culture of destruction and annihilation. Her best writing, like her science, broadened the definitions of human responsibility and relationship and provided comfort and hope.‖ (From Love, Fear
and Witnessing by Linda Lear, author of Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature)
The Chatham University Howe-Childs Gate House Constructed circa 1861, the Chatham University Howe-Childs Gate House is Pittsburgh’s oldest wood frame house and the oldest existing house from Pittsburgh’s ―Millionaires Row.‖ Built by Thomas Marshall Howe, a prominent Pittsburgh industrialist, bank president and former Congressman, the Gate House was the entry to Greystone, the family’s ―country‖ estate. Mary Howard Childs, the General’s widowed daughter, and her three children were the first known occupants of the house, then known as Willow Cottage. Former owners of the 2 1/2-story clapboard Gothic Revival house include members of the Howe and Childs families (1861-1947) and Pittsburgh oil magnate Michael L. Benedum (1947-1959). In the 1950s the Benedum Foundation leased the house to Chatham and in 1959 the foundation donated the house to the University for use as a residence hall and academic building. Chatham later sold the house in 1985; one year later the City of Pittsburgh designated the Gate House a Pittsburgh Historic Landmark. Chatham reacquired the house and grounds in 2000 and without delay began to ensure its survival after nearly 15 years of deterioration. The Board of Trustees and administration immediately invested $2.2 million into the exterior restoration, interior renovation and renewal of the grounds. The University engaged Landmarks Design Associates and architect Ellis Schmidlapp to restore the exterior and closely approximate its original appearance, from the A.J. Downing color palette to the faux slate roofing (actually recycled rubber tire shingles). Toxic-free paints donated by PPG were used in the interior spaces. The beautifully restored exterior has created a gracious entrance to the campus while the fully renovated interior includes a conference room and guest rooms for University visitors. The project is supported by contributions from neighbors, friends, alumnae and other individuals interested in historic preservation and Pittsburgh history, including the descendents of Thomas Marshall Howe. The house was a recipient of a Keystone Historic Preservation Grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and was designated an Official Project of Save America’s Treasures 2000, a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council and National Trust for Historic Preservation. c. 1861: Willow Cottage (Gate House) built at entry to Greystone estate by General Thomas Marshall Howe. c. 1866: Mary Howe Childs (eldest daughter of General Thomas and Mary Ann Palmer Howe, and widow of Colonel James H. Childs) with children Thomas Howe Childs, Mary Robinson Childs and Jeanie Lowrie Childs are first residents of the Gate House. c. 1870s: Floor added between the first and second floors of the house. Rear section of the Gate House added. c. 1890: Jeanie Lowrie Childs marries Alexander Wurts and live in Willow Cottage with their children, Laura Jay Wurts and Thomas Howe Childs Wurts until around 1902. 1904: Thomas Howe Childs and Augusta Knevals Childs begin residence in the Gate House. 1947: Michael L. Benedum purchases the Gate House from Augusta Knevals Childs. 1950: Michael L. Benedum leases the Gate House to the Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University). 1959: The Benedum Foundation donates Benedum Hall and the Gate House to Chatham. The Gate House becomes a residence hall and academic building and is known at this time as the Gateway House. 1985: Chatham sells the Gate House and Benedum Hall to Greystone Associates. 1986: Pittsburgh City Council designates the Gate House as a historic landmark. 2000: Chatham re-purchases the Gate House. Save America’s Treasures designates the Howe Childs Gate House as an official project. Chatham selects Landmarks Design Associates as architect. 2003: Restoration and renovation complete.
Willow Cottage, c. 1860s
Howe-Childs Gate House, present
Chatham University Howe-Childs Gate House Awards & Accolades City of Pittsburgh Historic Landmark, 1986 Official Project, Save America’s Treasures, a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2000 Keystone Historic Preservation Grant, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2003 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Award, Preservation Pennsylvania, 2004 Outstanding Preservation Project, Historic Review Commission of Pittsburgh, 2004
Gate House images, before
Gate House images, after
The Tiffany Alumnae Memorial Window Created in 1889 by Louis Comfort Tiffany, America’s premier glass artist, the Tiffany Alumnae Memorial Window was a gift from the Alumnae Association to honor the College’s first fifteen graduating classes from 1873 to 1888. A committee of alumnae solicited donations and concepts, eventually selecting Tiffany’s design from among four artists for the grand sum of $650 (approximately $13,300 in today’s money). The Tiffany Alumnae Memorial Window is based upon the Erythraean sibyl from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, transformed into a symbol of knowledgeable womanhood. She sits before a book inscribed with the College motto with a winged attendant lighting the lamp of knowledge. Surrounding the tableau are the names of artists, writers and scientists significant to women’s education in 1889. Interestingly, no woman is listed among them, and Shakespeare is featured twice. Measuring eight feet by ten feet, the window is one of Tiffany’s largest early commissions and is considered the earliest known Tiffany window in western Pennsylvania. Created during his most experimental period, the embroidery of the tablecloth includes some of the earliest extant Favrile (from fabrile, Old English for ―handmade‖) glass, the multicolored opalescent glass that Tiffany patented in 1894. The window originally was installed in the Old Dilworth Hall Chapel for 36 years. Eventually, the effects of Pittsburgh’s industrial past take their toll and the window, now covered in soot, was removed and disassembled ―to allow for more light and ventilation‖ to enter the Chapel, according to the College alumnae magazine, the Alumnae Recorder. The window was packed away and almost forgotten for the next 70 years. When Chatham’s new President, Esther L. Barazzone, Ph.D., arrived on campus, archivist and Professor of English Emeritus John Cummins, Ph.D. showed her this piece of Chatham’s history, stored in the Library basement. Upon its ―rediscovery,‖ Chatham hired renowned Tiffany restorer Damien Peduto of Long Branch, New Jersey to begin the painstaking restoration. Believed to be one of only 50 Tiffany windows remaining from that period, the restoration took approximately 400 hours. This was one of two restorations, the first probably completed at Tiffany Studios in the early 1900s. The restoration was made possible through the generosity of Marion Swannie Rand, Class of 1945. Now backlit so that it remains visible day and night, the Tiffany Alumnae Memorial Window is on permanent display in the Kresge Atrium of the Science Complex.
Old Dilworth Hall and Tiffany Window, c. 1890s
Tiffany Alumnae Memorial Window, restored
The Chatham University Arboretum With elements designed for the original Andrew Mellon estate by the renowned Olmsted Brothers, the Chatham University campus is one of the most idyllic locations in the City of Pittsburgh. Designated an arboretum in 1998 by the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta (now known as the American Public Garden Association), Chatham’s 35-acre campus features 115 different varieties of species, including Japanese Flowering Crabapple, River Birch and Kentucky Coffee Tree. The Arboretum provides an outdoor classroom for students in the College’s Landscape Architecture and Landscape Studies programs, as well as an inviting place to stroll and to meditate. The Chatham campus landscape is significant not only for its historical role in educating women, but also for its design. This significance is visible today in the design of the Mellon Estate and the Old Quadrangle, both attributed to the Olmsted Brothers, as well Rea House, which has an independently significant landscape designed by Berthold Frosch. Woodland Road and the surviving open space known as Chapel Hill predated Chatham University and both contribute significantly to the character of the landscape.
TREE ID 1 2 3 4
BotanicalName Cornus kousa (Buerger ex Miq.) Hance Betula nigra L. Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. Ilex opaca Ait.
Common Name Kousa Dogwood River birch Canadian Hemlock American Holly Thornless Common Honeylocust ? Hawthorn Common Horsechestnut European Linden
Type Flowering Tree Shade Tree Conifer Tree Broadleaf Evergreen
Shade Tree
5 6 7 8
Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis (L.) Zab. Crataegus Aesculus hippocastanum L. Tillia x europaea L.
Shade Tree Flowering Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree
9
Phellodendron amurense Rupr.
10
Crataegus crusgalli var. inermis L.
Amur Corktree Thornless Cockspur Hawthorn
11 12 13 14
Prunus subhirtellla var pendula Maxim. Acer nigrum Michx.f. Quercus palustris Muenchh. Quercus velutina Lam.
Weeping Higan Cherry Black Maple Pin Oak Black Oak
Flowering Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree
15 16
Gymnocladus dioicus (L.) K. Koch Pinus strobus L.
Kentucky Coffeetree Eastern White Pine
Shade Tree Conifer Tree
17 18 19
Amelanchier arborea (Michx.f.) Fern Magnolia acuminata L. Quercus rubra L.
Flowering Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree
20 21 22
Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill Pinus mugo Turra. Magnolia stellata Maxim.
Downy Serviceberry Cucumbertree Magnolia Red Oak Common Apple or European Crabapple Mugo Pine Star Magnolia
23 24
Magnolia x soulangiana Soul.-Bod. Magnolia virginiana L.
Saucer Magnolia Sweetbay Magnolia
Flowering Tree Flowering Tree
25 26 27
Cornus florida 'Cherokee Princess' L. Amelanchier sp. Larix decidua Mill.
Flowering Dogwood ? Serviceberry European Larch
Flowering Tree Flowering Tree Conifer Tree
28
Acer palmatum var. atropurpureum Thunb.
Shade Tree
29 30 31 32 33
Acer palmatum var. dissectum Maxim. Lonicera maackii (Rupr.) Maxim. Viburnum sieboldii Miq. Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu. & Cheng. Chionanthus virginicus L.
Japanese Maple Dissectum Japanese Maple (also Cutleaf or Laceleaf Japanese Maple) Amur Honeysuckle Siebold viburnum Dawn Redwood White Fringetree
34
Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis Rosea' Miq.
Flowering Tree
35
Cornus florida 'Cherokee Princess' L.
Higan Cherry Cherokee Princess Flowering Dogwood
36 37 38 39 40 41
Aesculus hippocastanum 'Baumannii' L. Malus spp. Mill. Abies koreana Wils. Acer griseum (Franch.) Pax Rhamnus ? Acer saccharinum L.
Common Horse Chestnut Flowering Crabapple Korean Fir Paperbark Maple ? Buckthorn Silver Maple
Shade Tree Flowering Tree Conifer Tree Shade Tree
Flowering Tree
Flowering Tree Conifer Tree Flowering Tree
Shade Tree Deciduous Shrub Deciduous Shrub Conifer Tree Flowering Tree
Flowering Tree
Shade Tree
42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56
Taxus cuspidata Sieb. & Zucc. Carpinus caroliniana Walt. Cornus mas L. Picea glauca 'Conica' (Moench) Voss. Acer palmatum Thunb. Tsuga caroliniana Engelm. Prunus subhirtella var. autumnalis Miq Betula pendula Roth. Picea pungens Engelm. Celtics occidentals L. Vertex agnus-castus L. Ulmus americana L. Quercus alba L. Hamamelis virginiana L. Betula lenta L.
Japanese Yew American Hornbeam Corneliancherry Dogwood Alberta Spruce Japanese Maple Carolina Hemlock Higan Cherry European White Birch Colorado Spruce Common Hackberry Chastetree American Elm White Oak Common Witchhazel Black Birch
Conifer Tree Shade Tree Flowering Tree Conifer Tree Shade Tree Conifer Tree Flowering Tree Shade Tree Conifer Tree
57 58 59 60 61 62 63
Cercidiphyllum japonicum ‘Pendula' sieb. & zucc Chionanthus retusus Lindl. & Paxt. Magnolia x loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ Kache Prunus serrulata ‘Royal Burgundy’ lindl. Ulmus parvifolia ‘Allee’ jacq. Picea omorika (Pančić) Purkyne. Abies concolor (Gordon & Glend.) Llindl. ex
Weeping Katsuratree Chinese Fringetree Loebner Magnolia Royal Burgunday Japanese Flowering Allee Chinese Elm Serbian Spruce White (Concolor) Fir
Shade Tree Flowering Tree Flowering Tree Flowering Tree Shade Tree Conifer Tree Conifer Tree
64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92
Pinus strobiformis Engelm. Acer truncatum ‘Warrenred’ Bunge Zelkova serrata ‘Green Vase’ (thunb.) mak. Styrax japonicus Sieb. & Zucc. Cercis canadensis L. Stewartia pseudocamellia Maxim. Robinia pseudoacacia L. Juglans nigra L. Carya…………… Cladrastis kentukea (Dum.-Cours.) Rudd Halesia carolina L. Quercus palustris Muenchh. Crataegus phaenopyrum (L.f.) Medik. Quercus palustris Muenchh. Acer platanoides l. Ostrya virginiana (Mill.) K. Koch Liriodendron tulipifera L. Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich Prunus serotina Ehrh. Cercidiphyllum japonicum Sieb. & Zucc. Sassafras albidum (Nutt.) Nees Pinus nigra Arn. Corylus colurna L. Rhus typhina L. Acer rubrum L. Betula platyphylla var. japonica Malus ‘Spring Snow’ Mill. Ulmus x wilsoniana Fagus sylvatica L.
Southwest White Pine Purpleblow Maple Japanese Zelkova Japanese Snowbell Eastern Redbud Japanese Stewartia Black Locust Black Walnut TBD member of Hickory family American Yellowwood Carolina Silverbell Pin Oak or Swamp Oak Washington Hawthorn Pin Oak or Swamp Oak Norway Maple American Hophornbeam Tuliptree Common Baldcypress Black Cherry Katsuratree Common Sassafras Austrian Pine Turkish Filbert or Hazel Staghorn Sumac Red Maple Asian White Birch Spring Snow Crabapple Prospector Elm European Beach
Conifer Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Flowering Tree Flowering Tree Flowering Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Flowering Tree Shade Tree Flowering Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Conifer Tree Flowering Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Conifer Tree TBD Deciduous Shrub Shade Tree Shade Tree Flowering Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree
Deciduous Shrub Shade Tree Shade Tree Deciduous Shrub Shade Tree
93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115
Malus transitoria 'Golden Raindrops' (‘Schmidtcutleaf’) Mill. Fraxinus americana L. Ginkgo biloba L. Thuja occidentalis L. Picea abies (L.) Karst. Fraxinus pennsylvanica ‘Cimmaron®’ Marsh. Cotinus coggygria Scop. Morus alba L. Magnolia macrophylla Michx. Aralia spinosa L. Quercus bicolor Willd. Platanus x acerifolia (ait.) Willd. Quercus robur L. Liquidambar styraciflua L. Tilia……………….. Prunus avium L. Acer saccharum Marshall Acer pseudoplatanus l. Corylus americana Marsh. Pyrus calleryana ‘Bradford’ Decne. Aesculus parviflora Walter. Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle Catalpa speciosa (Warder ex Barney) Engelm.
Golden Raindrops Crabapple White Ash Ginko Eastern Arborvitae or White Cedar Norway Spruce Common Smoketree White Mulberry Bigleaf Magnolia Devil's Walkingstick Swamp White Oak London Planetree English Oak American Sweetgum TBD Linden Mazzard Cherry Sugar Maple Planetree Maple American Filbert Bradford Pear Bottlebrush Buckeye Tree of Heaven Northern Catalpa
Flowering Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Conifer Tree Conifer Tree Shade Tree Flowering Tree Shade Tree Flowering Tree Deciduous Shrub Shade Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree TBD Flowering Tree Shade Tree Shade Tree Deciduous Shrub Flowering Tree Deciduous Shrub Shade Tree Shade Tree
Wireless Network Coverage
Woodland Road Between Fifth Avenue and Wilkins Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood is Woodland Road, privately owned by residents and Chatham University in a hilly, wooded area that has escaped intensive urban development. Mansions, nearmansions and comfortable homes from the Eclectic Period (1880-1940), the time of real wealth, appear almost casually along the winding roads, nestled with even a few important post-modern houses. But the true glory of Woodland Road is its verdant landscape which envelops and creates a setting for its architecture. Recognizing this, the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation designated Woodland Road a historic district in 1982. Early photographs of many of the houses show bleak and empty grounds, or sometimes infant hedges and whips of new trees. Slightly older properties, however, give evidence of a serious concern for landscaping, an example that all Woodland Road residents eventually followed. The variety of architectural styles and the recognition of the essential role of vegetation in providing a fully furnished air to the community recall other choice residential enclaves in England (from as early as the 1820s) and in the United States (primarily the post-Civil War era). If one were to suggest a close parallel, it might well be Brookline, Boston’s preeminent Late Victorian suburb. Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation
Woodland Road at Fifth Avenue, c.1905
Significant Woodland Road Homes 5850 Fifth Avenue (c. 1910) The monochrome contrast of very well-scaled rubble and flat lintels, belt courses, and jambstones is a source of pleasure in what seems at first a tame piece of Tudor. 50 Woodland Road (c. 1930) Janssen & Cocken, architects The favorite architects for Pittsburgh-area clubhouses produced much of the area’s most mellow domestic architecture, with this example in rubble and limestone. 96 East Woodland Road (1939-40) Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, architects Pittsburgh in 1939 was an architecturally conservative city, and this was probably the only work in the International style in or near it. The house was designed for one of Pittsburgh’s oldest glass and steel manufacturing families. With four levels of living space, an indoor swimming pool, and a rooftop dance floor, the Frank House was the largest residence designed by the Gropius and Breuer partnership. 80 East Woodland Road (c. 1890s) Longfellow, Alden & Harlow (?) A 1904 map already shows this house, a wooden essay in the Colonial Revival style. A correct Georgian rendition is not the objective; gambrel roofs, windows, and an anachronistic porch happen as and where convenient, apart from the symmetrical front. 108 Woodland Road (c. 1890s) A stone-and-shingle house that has the variety of form that Late Victorian houses affected, but a well-proportioned, well-integrated composition all the same, not the throwing-together of elements so often to be encountered. 112 Woodland Road (c. 1910) A stone porch offers the only ―architectural‖ touch to this house apart from the English cross-bond patterning of its brickwork. Its windows are well-proportioned to the front wall, and promise light and spacious interiors. 116 Woodland Road (c. 1910) This is one of the grander Woodland Road houses, with red brick, dwarf buttresses, imitation half-timbering, and vergeboards invoking the Tudor period. The elegant parterre garden that lies between the house and the road is loosely based on northern Renaissance prototypes. It is all that remains of a much more extensive landscaping that also climbed the slope to the right of the house in a series of naturalistic terraces planted in a lush wooded fashion. The property was created by a member of the Laughlin family, another branch of which had a superb garden in the northern Renaissance style in Edgeworth, a wealthy community 13 miles down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh. That garden was designed by Arthur W. Cowell, who might have been the creator of the parterre garden here. 118 Woodland Road (1983) Richard Meier, architect There is a recall of the International style in the pure rectangular geometry, white stucco and enameled sheet steel, and general openness of this house. 118A Woodland Road (1979) Robert Venturi, architect Venturi, the early ideologue of Post-Modernism, created a very original design here. There is certainly nothing else like it on Woodland Road. It has been compared to a bridge, and its radial green and white striping suggests the paddle box of a sidewheel steamer. 5736 West Woodland Road (c. 1910) The California-looking pergola in front contrasts a strong horizontal to the close-spaced verticals in the massing of the house itself. Pergolas were in fashion at this time, allowing the rooms behind more light that did the obsolescent front porch.
Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation
East Side
Bloomfield
Giant Eagle Market District
Trader Joe’s
East Busway Chatham Eastside
Ellsworth Avenue Walnut Street
Mellon Park
Woodland Road at Fifth Avenue
University of Pittsburgh
CVS Carnegie Mellon University
Homewood Cemetery
Schenley Park
Rite Aid
Squirrel Hill Shopping District
Frick Park
Giant Eagle
What’s Within Walking Distance of Chatham University? Chatham University
Martin Luther King Junior East Busway—Non-stop public transportation available from East Liberty and S. Negley Avenue stations into downtown Pittsburgh.
(Andrew Mellon’s brother) is adjacent to the Phipps Garden Center and Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Rite Aid—Corner of Forbes and Murray avenues.
Bloomfield—Shopping and dining area on Liberty Avenue from S. Millvale Avenue to the Bloomfield Bridge.
Ellsworth Avenue—An eclectic Shadyside shopping area between Summerlea and College, it includes clothing stores, restaurants, and several galleries.
Carnegie Mellon University—A research university of more than 10,000 students, recognized for its engineering and robotics programs.
Frick Park—The largest of the city's four parks, covering 600 acres. Extensive trails throughout the park's steep valleys and wooded slopes. Adjacent to the Park Squirrel Hill Shopping District—Located along Murray and Forbes avenues, this area includes an along Beechwood Boulevard is Regent Square, anarray of restaurants, shops, boutiques and two movie other popular shopping and dining district. theaters- Squirrel Hill Theater on Forward Avenue Giant Eagle and Giant Eagle Market District—Two and the smaller Manor Theater on Murray Avenue. large supermarkets. Market District includes organic, Trader Joe’s—A popular grocery store located on vegetarian, and vegan items. Penn Avenue in East Liberty. Homewood Cemetery—One of the City’s largest cemeteries, Homewood considers itself ―more than a Walnut Street—The heart of the Shadyside Shopping District, Walnut Street has something for everyone, final resting place‖ and a quiet refuge for joggers, from couture to the Gap and from local coffee roastlunchtime patrons, and those looking for meditative ers to street vendors. Expect the sidewalks to be space. filled with pedestrians on sunny weekends. Mellon Park—The former Richard B. Mellon Estate
Chatham Eastside—Part of the Shadyside Campus, Chatham Eastside will include classrooms for graduate programs in health sciences, nursing, interior architecture and landscape architecture. CVS Drug Store—Corner of Wilkins Avenue and Wightman Street. East Side—Includes Borders Books and Music, Wine & Spirits, Starbucks, Trek Bicycles, Walgreens, and Whole Foods.
Schenley Park—In Oakland, Schenley is a major destination for university students and businesspeople alike and features a pool, ice skating rink, and hiking trails.