A Tour of Point Breeze with Eric Osth

In Your Neighborhood (originally an ICAA video series) explores localities across the world with an eye to enduring design and thoughtful placemaking. Practitioners and experts give us a virtual tour of their neighborhoods, bringing attention to the classical and traditional architectural and design elements, decisions, and features that make the places we live more welcoming and beautiful.

In this installment of In Your Neighborhood, architect Eric Osth, AIA, takes us to Point Breeze in Pittsburgh, PA, a neighborhood with a rich and fascinating history of classical and traditional design.

All cities strive to be a city of neighborhoods. With over ninety recognized neighborhoods—each with its own unique character and sense of place—Pittsburgh exemplifies it. Across the varied topography and centuries of growth and change, a one-hour walk in any part of the city will yield a wealth of remarkable, memorable moments. My own neighborhood of Point Breeze captures the variety, character, and evolution that make this city so special. Point Breeze evolved over many years, with each layer adding to a living tapestry of history that all cities can learn from.

To understand Point Breeze as it is today, we have to look beyond the boundaries of the neighborhood and back in time, to the fascinating history of Pittsburgh. The acclaimed author David McCullough, who grew up in Point Breeze, called Pittsburgh “the Silicon Valley of its day” for its considerable innovation in metallurgy, which developed the materials used to build the nation’s growing infrastructure.

During the Gilded Age, farmland made way to opulent mansions of notable entrepreneurs, earning Point Breeze recognition as one of the nation’s wealthiest zip codes. Families such as Westinghouse, Heinz, Mellon, and Frick lived in Point Breeze or adjacent neighborhoods.

After the exponential growth of the automobile in the early twentieth century, the desire to leave the city and the lure of the countryside proved too great, and these wealthy families moved outside of the city. Point Breeze was left with large estate lots for smaller, more modest infill development during one of the great eras of neighborhood building. In some cases, an old mansion remains, surrounded by beautiful yet relatively modest single-family homes and duplexes. Some of the mansions were converted to elegant apartments, creating “Mansion Apartments.”

Residential Fabric

Between the various civic structures and architecture is a remarkable residential fabric spanning over 150 years. A combination of Gilded Age homes, luxury homes, modest homes, apartments, and multiplexes pepper the neighborhood. The rich styles, diverse eras, and varied home sizes intermingle in a vernacular tapestry unique to Point Breeze.

The Frick Estate

The Frick estate remains intact and has been expanded into a museum and historical center of Frick Pittsburgh, anchoring the east end of the neighborhood. The art museum addresses one of the thresholds to Frick Park, a series of natural ravines that together form one of the city’s largest public parks. The Frick Museum and the Frick Park archway (by John Russell Pope) anchor the east end of Reynolds Street, the neighborhood’s central spine.

Frick Pittsburgh Museum

Through the efforts of Helen Clay Frick (daughter of industrialist Henry Clay Frick) the Frick Pittsburgh is a museum dedicated to the art and heritage of the Frick legacy. Anchoring the grounds is the historic Frick Home, part of Pittsburgh's "Millionaires' Row" and former home to Gilded Age leaders of industry.

The Greenhouse, a cottage 'playhouse', and the Art Museum are among the many structures around the grounds. The Art Museum was built in 1969, an era when classicism was rarely chosen. The building faces neighboring Frick Park, connecting the museum to the landscape.

Frick Park

Anchoring the east end of Point Breeze and comprising nearly 650 acres, Frick Park is one of Pittsburgh's natural treasures. The forested ravines include natural trails and small parks. In the 1930s, John Russell Pope was commissioned to design three gateways that created remarkable transitions between the city and the natural environment.

Reynolds Street

At first glance, Reynolds Street is not particularly remarkable. But when considered with all that it connects, a walker will discover a noteworthy collection of unique moments, including Homewood Cemetery; Pittsburgh New Church, a beautiful example of 1920s Arts & Crafts architecture; the majestic Sterratt and St. Bede Schools; the picturesque street of Glen Arden; and a small neighborhood center of two restaurants and neighborhood conveniences.

Homewood Cemetery

Bordering the neighboring Squirrel Hill and the ravines of Frick Park is a lush, green cemetery. Tombstones and mausoleums date back over 150 years, reflecting stone craftsmanship and design from various architectural styles and characteristics. The arrangement of the collection–their interesting shapes and sizes–evoke memories of the famous Roman Appian Way.

Pittsburgh New Church

Tucked away on the axis of a quick English-inspired parklet lies the Pittsburgh New Church and school. The school and church form a small park that serves as a playground, with their picturesque architecture providing a stage set for midday recess.

Mellon Park

Moving west, you stumble upon Mellon Park, the lovely grounds of the former Mellon Mansion, now a beautiful hilltop city park. Much of the mansion's landscape elements are still in place, providing unique moments of all scales. The park has sweeping views of Pittsburgh's East End, including two church spires by Ralph Adams Cram in the distance.

Point Breeze is a unique neighborhood bracketed by two equally lush but very different parks: one inspired by French gardens, the other large, wild, and natural. It includes two schools, a church, and our neighborhood’s main street. Between these landmarks is the fabric that makes the city wonderful: well-built homes of all types, sizes, shapes, and styles, all carefully crafted and memorable.

Point Breeze is an important part of Pittsburgh, but it also represents something larger: an example of how residential neighborhoods can grow and evolve over time, with a tapestry of traditional and classical architecture shaping the public realm.