more of other peoples' houses

Since everyone seems to enjoy my estate sale photos, here are some from the past couple of weeks (none today though, I might as well have stayed in bed).

Last week we stopped at a house in Schenley Farms, a historic neighborhood here in Pittsburgh, and found something rather amazing still in operation...

That's an original built-in vacuum cleaner.  So very cool!  Also some nice art tile (Grueby, Moravian?) with brass lantern sconces on the fireplace.  They also had a lovely copper and glass awning over the back door. 

Another house was full of original details (and also so full of people I couldn't take many photos).  There were so many closed and caution taped doors that I missed most of the house, the few I peeked into were original/untouched bathroom and closets.  But since I was in ninja picture mode, no pictures..

Another rather unassuming house had both it's original 40's bathrooms, including colored fixtures and patterned linoleum.  Sadly, I don't think the future bodes well for their continued survival.  

 

A nice hex tile floor at a storefront near us (it also has a great early light fixture that I don't have a picture of). 

And just a pretty rear view of a couple of houses in Shadyside.

And lastly, some nice details from a Mt. Lebanon Tudor Revival.

 

 Hopefully you all had fruitful weekends, if not, hope you had a nice spot to lounge

mired

Just a few updates...  The onset of another week of cool wet weather means I've resumed my contortions in the eaves.  I had hoped to finish today, but the discovery of my cat in there with me, and her subsequent retreat deep into the bowels of the house meant that finishing would risk trapping her in there, so, I didn't.  Fie.  Stripping the kitchen built-in continues to suck my soul dry, there is really no end in sight on that front.

6 of these paneled doors to go

Today found us heading out to a rather fantastic estate sale.  We missed these by 15 minutes... *sob*

antique electroliers, 300 for the lot of 6 with shades

And saw things like boxes of antique Steiff stuffed animals leaving as we went in.  We didn't do too badly though.  Some nice hardware, a tall turned floor lamp, some art and such, books (including P.T. Barnum's, Thirty Years of Hustling) and a lovely huge porch swing. But we left some troops behind folks...

antique china low tank toilet under the barn

That would be an antique china low tank toilet under the barn.  I saw it long after they had wanted to leave for the day, and while they were happy to let me crawl under there to rescue it, it had sunk deep into the mud.  There was simply no way for me to dredge it out with what little time I had.  So I have a humble request for all you locals.  Please save her.  It'll be there waiting Saturday for you, keeping company with the house's original huge multi-light windows.  Bring a trowel and don't wear heels... I promise the house is worth seeing too, you know, if original Victorian kitchens are your thing....

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/gms/4471131492.html

I spy a tub like mine!

another sad day

We've seen some lovely buildings and houses come down while we've lived here.  It turns out another one I pass all the time is about to join their ranks - the 1927 Penn Lincoln Hotel in Wilkinsburg PA.  Sooo terribly sad.  At least it's being salvaged, but gee I wish I knew what happened to the Samual Yellin gas lights!

http://www.phlf.org/2014/04/29/a-note-on-the-fate-of-the-former-penn-lincoln-hotel-building/
http://www.abandonedonline.net/2014/03/07/penn-lincoln-hotel/

http://www.joshuadavidmooney.com/?p=1810

From the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation:

In a few weeks the former Penn Lincoln Hotel Building on Penn Avenue in Wilkinsburg will be demolished. PHLF was among a group that made concerted efforts on various occasions to try and save and restore the building, but costs, coupled with a lack of market and the building’s deteriorating condition, resulted in this decision.

The downward spiral started many years ago when the hotel closed. In its heyday, the hotel served guests who disembarked from the Pennsylvania Railroad when it stopped at the former Wilkinsburg Railroad Station on runs between New York and Chicago. State Route 30—the Lincoln Highway—followed Penn Avenue connecting Pittsburgh and New York by motorcar. The Penn-Lincoln Hotel sat at the junction of these two important early transportation routes.

Architectural Historian Jamie Van Trump called Benno Janssen (1874-1964), the architect of the Penn-Lincoln, “the most talented of Pittsburgh eclectic architects of the earlier twentieth century.” The Kaufmann’s Department Store addition at Fifth and Smithfield, the William Penn Hotel, the E. J. Kaufmann house in Fox Chapel, and the Mellon Institute are among his many distinguished buildings. Janssen designed five hotel buildings between 1909 and 1929.

The Penn-Lincoln (1926-27) was a six-story brick building that advertised itself as “Pittsburgh’s Most Modern Suburban Hotel.” The simple facade was enlivened with 12 outside iron lamps designed by acclaimed metalsmith Samuel Yellin of Philadelphia (the lamps are gone but blueprints are on file in the Yellin Collection at the University of Pennsylvania Architectural Archives); cast ornaments of cupids, ram’s heads, and rampant lions remain on the facade.

For some years, the former hotel served as an apartment building, but it could not be well maintained.  A partnership consisting of Deliverance, Inc., a faith-based group led by Reverend Michael Golphin, eventually acquired the building and PHLF loaned $135,000 to Deliverance to begin development of the property, but costs were too great.

Allegheny County then contracted with our organization to analyze restoration costs and possible uses for the building. But because the building had deteriorated, bricks were beginning to fall, environmental remediation proved to be expensive, and the reconstruction costs were very high. What is more, we could not find a market for the redevelopment of the building in the Wilkinsburg area even though we considered various forms of housing, retail, offices, mixed use, and single use.

Ultimately, everyone concerned agreed that the building had dangerously deteriorated and public officials in Wilkinsburg, the community, members of the Community Development Corporation, our organization, and the County agreed there was no restoration solution.

However, all parties will work together to rebuild this strategic corner with a new building in scale and design that will enhance the historic Penn Avenue Main Street. We are trying to secure an anchor tenant now. Adjacent parking will be available.

As part of the mitigation for the removal of the building, many of the sculptural artifacts embedded in the structure will be saved and relocated to public parks and community gardens in Wilkinsburg. In addition we are preparing a nomination of the Penn Avenue-Wood Street business area for addition as a historic district to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Wilkinsburg CDC, under Tracy Evans’ leadership, has been achieving good results with the Main Street businesses and historic buildings, and our organizations, together with Allegheny County, are seeking funds to begin a clean up and undertake exterior restoration of the former Wilkinsburg Railroad Station. We hope we will have positive news to report later this year.

estate sale travels

If it's not already abundantly clear, we like estate sales (understatement of the year there)...

But in addition to finding things for the house, estate sales are a great way to start learning how to navigate around a new city.  Not only that, but we've been known to go to lots of sales just to see a particular house, even if there's nothing listed that we're interested in.  Most of the time it's nearly impossible to take good photos due to crowds, clutter and impossibly bad lighting.  Naturally, that doesn't stop me from trying...  So here are some of my favorites.

This was a mansion in McKeesport (it was listed on Old House Dreams a while back).  It was worth buying for the fireplace alone.

This is a stained glass transom in a Scheibler apartment building (I believe Whitehall), none of my other pictures are clear, which is an absolute shame.

This was an English Arts and Crafts mini-mansion in Squirrel Hill.  The original entrance was boarded up, I would have loved to have seen it in it's heyday.  A strange mix of very high end entertaining spaces, and very small, almost cloister like bedrooms.  I brought home a bunch of furniture and the entire original kitchen... I also plan on shamelessly copying the stained glass when I get my skills up to snuff.

incised Grueby? tile

arts and crafts maidens on all the columns

original beam lights

This was a converted carriage house in Shadyside

Here are some random homes we've come across.  They always seem to be back lit, so the pictures are terrible, but I highly recommend making the black one full screen - soooo many cool details (and it's black)! 

In Greensburg I think?

stunning font

this one belongs to a historical society, but could really use some attention

look at their carriage house!

 And lastly, perfectly fractured slate sidewalks...

glass slides of Baywood

I did manage to find a few pictures of the glass slides mentioned in the previous post (only a few of the interior though sadly), so for your viewing pleasure . . .

The grounds in winter

The master bedroom

Walls and turrets around property, I don't think these exist any longer. The woman in white may be Sarah Cordelia King, Alexander King's wife or Mildred Kelly King, Robert's wife and J.G. Kelly's daughter (we know that Robert was the one that added the castle-like features to Baywood)

The formal gardens

The solarium/orangery

The grounds in summer

Robert and Mildred again, I think I love this photo enough to post it on every post. Just look at Robert's pose, the moorish interior, the SNOWY OWL in the background . . . Through the doorway you can see the gold room, photos of it restored are in the previous post.

And just because every house needs its own postcards . . .