Chancellor's Residence (University of Pittsburgh)

Last updated
Chancellor's Residence
(Harvey Childs house)
Chancellor'sResidencePitt.jpg
Chancellor's Residence at the University of Pittsburgh, the former Harvey Childs house
Location718 Devonshire Street, Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°26′56″N79°56′41″W / 40.448937°N 79.944636°W / 40.448937; -79.944636
Built1896
Architect Peabody & Stearns
Architectural style(s) Colonial Revival
Governing body University of Pittsburgh
Designated1973 [1]
Pittsburgh locator map 2018.png
Red pog.svg
Location of the Pitt Chancellor's Residence in Pittsburgh

The Chancellor's Residence at the University of Pittsburgh is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark in Shadyside just east of the main Oakland campus approximately one half mile from the center of campus at the Cathedral of Learning and adjacent to the rear property of the University Child Development Center on the Oakland-Shadyside border in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [2]

Contents

Architecture

The residence is the former Harvey Childs house built by Peabody & Stearns in 1896. It is an example of Colonial Revival, with the gambrel roof especially suggestive of New England Colonial. However, the home also incorporates some details reminiscent of Philadelphia's Georgian-style Mount Pleasant mansion. The structure overcomes what was at the time an architectural problem of including a porch that Pittsburghers wanted, but preventing the porch from obscuring the facade toward the street. The design of this house worked around this problem by placing the porch to the side of the house, balanced by a porte-cochere. [3] A renovation designed by Landmark Design Associates later enclosed the porch at the Chancellor's Residence. [4]

History

Harvey Childs, the original owner for whom the residence is sometimes named, was one of the three Pittsburgh citizens that played a role in the origins of the Allegheny Observatory and thus the early years of the university's Department of Astronomy and Physics. [5] He also served as a trustee to the university, then called the Western University of Pennsylvania, from 1863 to 1876. [6] The residence was also the home of John F. Casey, a University of Pittsburgh Trustee until his death in 1948. [7] The home was given to the university to serve as a residence for its chancellor in 1966 by Leon Falk Jr. who served as vice chairman of the university's board of trustees. [8] Pitt's previous chancellor's residence was on Morehead Heights in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh and was sold to the Catholic Institute of Pittsburgh proceeding Falk's gift. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatham University</span> Private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US

Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students and 1,108 graduate students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Pittsburgh</span> State-related university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US

The University of Pittsburgh is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the university's central administration and around 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The 132-acre Pittsburgh campus includes various historic buildings that are part of the Schenley Farms Historic District, most notably its 42-story Gothic revival centerpiece, the Cathedral of Learning. Pitt is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". It is the second-largest non-government employer in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakland (Pittsburgh)</span> Place in Pennsylvania, United States

Oakland is the academic and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and one of the city's major cultural centers. Home to three universities, museums, hospitals, shopping venues, restaurants, and recreational activities, this section of the city also includes two city-designated historic districts: the mostly residential Schenley Farms Historic District and the predominantly institutional Oakland Civic Center Historic District, as well as the locally-designated Oakland Square Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of Learning</span> Building at the University of Pittsburgh

The Cathedral of Learning is a 42-story skyscraper that serves as the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's (Pitt) main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Standing at 535 feet (163 m), the 42-story Late Gothic Revival Cathedral is the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere and the second-tallest university building in the world, after the main building of Moscow State University. It is also the second-tallest gothic-styled building in the world, after the Woolworth Building in Manhattan. The Cathedral of Learning was commissioned in 1921 and ground was broken in 1926 under general contractor Stone & Webster. The first class was held in the building in 1931 and its exterior finished in October 1934, prior to its formal dedication in June 1937. It is a Pittsburgh landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Pitt Union</span> United States historic place

The William Pitt Union, which was built in 1898 as the Hotel Schenley, is the student union building of the University of Pittsburgh main campus, and is a Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motor Square Garden</span> United States historic place

Motor Square Garden, also known as East Liberty Market, is a building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alumni Hall (University of Pittsburgh)</span> United States historic place

Alumni Hall at the University of Pittsburgh is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark that was formerly known as the Masonic Temple in Pittsburgh. Constructed in 1914–1915, it was designed by renowned architect Benno Janssen of Janssen & Abbot Architects. Other buildings in Pittsburgh's Oakland Cultural District designed by Janssen include the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, Mellon Institute, and Pitt's Eberly Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen Hall (University of Pittsburgh)</span> United States historic place

Allen Hall at the University of Pittsburgh is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark and a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District. Completed in 1914 and originally serving as the home to the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, the six-story Greek Revival building designed by J. H. Giesey now serves as the home of the university's Department of Physics and Astronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salk Hall</span>

Jonas Salk Hall at the University of Pittsburgh is a Pennsylvania state and Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark. The Art Deco building is named after Jonas Salk, who conducted his research on the first polio vaccine in a basement laboratory while on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chevron Science Center</span>

Chevron Science Center is a landmark academic building at 219 Parkman Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. The 15-story facility, completed in 1974, was designed by Kuhn, Newcomer & Valentour and houses the university's chemistry department. A three-story addition above Ashe Auditorium was completed in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thaw Hall</span> United States historic place

Thaw Hall is a historic academic building on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh that is a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District and has been named a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark. The five-story building of stone, brick, and terra cotta was completed in 1910 in the Neoclassical Beaux-Arts style by architect Henry Hornbostel and today serves as space for a variety of academic classrooms, labs, offices, and centers. It is located between, and connected to, the university's Old Engineering Hall and Space Research Coordination Center (SRCC) along O'Hara Street in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bellefield Hall</span> United States historic place

Bellefield Hall is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark and is a contributing property to the Schenley Farms Historic District on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh across Bellefield Avenue from Heinz Memorial Chapel and the lawn of the university's Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. A 1924 Italianate structure by architect Benno Janssen, it originally served as a Young Men's and Women's Hebrew Association, but now houses rehearsal spaces, classrooms, offices, and a Digital Recording Studio for the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Music, as well as a university gymnasium, fitness center, indoor swimming pool, and a 676-seat auditorium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardner Steel Conference Center</span> United States historic place

Gardner Steel Conference Center (GSCC) is an academic building of the University of Pittsburgh and a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District and a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schenley Quadrangle</span> Residence halls at the University of Pittsburgh

Schenley Quadrangle is a cluster of University of Pittsburgh ("Pitt") residence halls that is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark and are contributing properties to the Schenley Farms National Historic District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School</span> Private school in the United States

The Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School, or simply the Falk School, is a private kindergarten through eighth grade laboratory school of the University of Pittsburgh. It is located on the University of Pittsburgh's upper campus on Allequippa St.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schenley Farms Historic District</span> Historic district in Pennsylvania, United States

The Schenley Farms Historic District, also referred to as the Schenley Farms–Oakland Civic District, is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places that is located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University Child Development Center</span> Historic site in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The University Child Development Center (UCDC) at the University of Pittsburgh is a child care and early childhood education center located on Clyde Street in Shadyside just east of the main Oakland campus approximately one half mile from the center of campus at the Cathedral of Learning and adjacent to the rear property of the University's Chancellor's Residence on the Oakland-Shadyside border in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Leon Falk Jr. was a steel company executive and philanthropist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Falk was involved in the founding of several arts and cultural institutions in the Pittsburgh area, notably the University of Pittsburgh's Falk Clinic, Falk Laboratory School, the Pittsburgh Playhouse, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and the Chancellor's Residence for the University of Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UPMC Shadyside</span> Hospital in Pennsylvania, United States

UPMC Shadyside is a nationally ranked, 520-bed non-profit, tertiary, teaching hospital located in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. UPMC Shadyside is a part of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and grouped in with the flagship UPMC Presbyterian. The hospital is near UPMC's flagship campus which houses Presbyterian and Montefiore. As the hospital is a teaching hospital, it is affiliated with University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The hospital has an emergency room to handle emergencies, with a rooftop helipad to transport critical patients to and from the hospital. UPMC Shadyside houses the flagship campus of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, a nationally ranked cancer hospital.

References

  1. Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 (PDF), Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, 2010, p. 6, retrieved 2010-06-25
  2. "Internet Archive: Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation: PHLF Plaques & Registries". 2007-01-27. Archived from the original on 2007-01-27. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  3. Internet Archive: Walter C. Kidney, Dressed for the Occasion: Eclectic Architecture in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, Feb. 10, 2005; accessdate = 2008-7-25
  4. Landmark Design Associates: Small Scale Projects, accessdate=2009-03-30 Archived January 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. George Thornton Fleming, History of Pittsburgh and Environs, from Prehistoric Days to the Beginning, American Historical Society, New York, 1922, accessdate=2008-07-25
  6. "Alumni Directory, University of Pittsburgh, 1787-1916". General Alumni Association of the University of Pittsburgh. 1916. p. 24. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  7. "John F. Casey, Trustee, Dies". The Alumni News Review. 3 (2). General Alumni Association of the University of Pittsburgh: 2. December 1948. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  8. 1 2 "Leon Falk Gives His Home for Chancellor's Residence". Pitt. 22 (4). University of Pittsburgh: 19. Fall 1966. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
Chancellor'sResidencePitt2.jpg
Preceded by University of Pittsburgh Buildings
Chancellor's Residence

Constructed: 1896
Succeeded by