Glencairn | |
Location | 1001 Cathedral Rd., Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania |
---|---|
Coordinates | 40°08′11.88″N75°03′51.43″W / 40.1366333°N 75.0642861°W |
Area | 6.2 acres (2.5 ha) |
Built | 1928–39 |
Built by | Raymond Pitcairn |
Architectural style | Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Late Romanesque |
Part of | Bryn Athyn Historic District (ID08001087) |
NRHP reference No. | 78002434 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | August 31, 1978 |
Designated NHLDCP | October 6, 2008 |
Glencairn is a castle-like mansion in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, that was home to the Pitcairn family for more than 40 years. Now the Glencairn Museum, it contains a collection of about 8,000 artworks, mostly religious in nature, from cultures such as ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, the Roman Empire and medieval Europe, as well as Islamic, Asian, and Native American works. The museum is affiliated with The New Church, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Multi-millionaire businessman Raymond Pitcairn (1885–1966) and his wife, Mildred Glenn (died 1979) built "Glencairn" between 1928 and 1939. Its name was a combination of their surnames. Pitcairn, a member of the New Church himself, had no formal training in architecture and designed the Romanesque-style building using a series of models. The nine-story, granite-and-ruddy-colored-stone mansion features more than 90 rooms on 10 floors. It has three main sections – a central rectangle, and two large rectangular wings – that together measure approximately 175 feet by 135 feet. The exterior features a nine-story tower, carved doorways, pillars, and wall insets. The building also contains elaborate interior mosaics, monel metalwork, Early Medieval stained glass windows, and a replica of the Biblical tabernacle. [2]
The Pitcairn fortune derived from control of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, of which his father John Pitcairn, Jr. (1841-1916), was director, 1896–1906. Adjacent to "Glencairn" is Raymond Pitcairn's first architectural success, the Gothic Revival Bryn Athyn Cathedral (1913–19), and his father's house "Cairnwood." The Pitcairns were funders of the American Liberty League. [3] Following Mildred's death in 1979 (Raymond died in 1966), the mansion, with its collections and Pitcairn archives, was given to the Academy of the New Church. [4]
"Glencairn" was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and is a contributing property of the Bryn Athyn Historic District. [1]
Guided tours of the building and collection are available year-round. Tours are offered Tuesday through Friday at 2:30pm or by appointment, and weekends at 1:00, 1:45, 2:30 and 3pm. The Museum's first floor, including the Great Hall, Upper Hall, Bird Room, and current temporary exhibition, is open free of charge for self-guided viewing on weekends from 1:00 to 4:30 pm.
Glencairn Museum also offers a variety of events and exhibitions throughout the year.
Bryn Athyn is a home rule municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was formerly a borough, and its official name remains "Borough of Bryn Athyn". The population was 1,375 at the 2010 census. It was formed for religious reasons from Moreland Township on February 8, 1916. Bryn Athyn is surrounded by Lower Moreland Township.
Frank Heyling Furness was an American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his diverse, muscular, often inordinately scaled buildings, and for his influence on the Chicago-based architect Louis Sullivan. Furness also received a Medal of Honor for bravery during the Civil War.
Thorncrown Chapel is a chapel located in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, designed by E. Fay Jones, and constructed in 1980. The design recalls the Prairie School of architecture popularized by Frank Lloyd Wright, with whom Jones had apprenticed. The chapel was commissioned by Jim Reed, a retired schoolteacher, who envisioned a non-denominational pilgrimage chapel set apart for meditation. The design of Thorncrown Chapel was inspired by Sainte-Chapelle, a Gothic church in Paris, France, pierced by numerous stained glass windows. It held some of King Louis's medieval Christian relics, including the Crown of Thorns believed worn by Christ. This relic inspired the name of the American chapel.
Bryn Athyn Cathedral is the episcopal seat of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, a denomination of Swedenborgianism. The main building is of the Early Gothic style, while the adjoining structures are of a transitional period reflective of a combination of both Gothic and Norman styles. The exterior appearance of the cathedral itself is reminiscent of Gloucester Cathedral in England.
Gloria Dei Church, known locally as Old Swedes', is a historic church located in the Southwark neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 929 South Water Street, bounded by Christian Street on the north, South Christopher Columbus Boulevard on the east, and Washington Avenue on the south. It was built between 1698 and 1700, making it the oldest church in Pennsylvania and second oldest Swedish church in the United States after Holy Trinity Church in Wilmington, Delaware.
G. W. & W. D. Hewitt was a prominent architectural firm in the eastern United States at the turn of the twentieth century. It was founded in Philadelphia in 1878, by brothers George Wattson Hewitt (1841–1916) and William Dempster Hewitt (1847–1924), both members of the American Institute of Architects. The firm specialized in churches, hotels and palatial residences, especially crenelated mansions, such as Maybrook (1881), Druim Moir (1885–86) and Boldt Castle (1900–04).
Wilson Eyre, Jr. was an American architect, teacher and writer who practiced in the Philadelphia area. He is known for his deliberately informal and welcoming country houses, and for being an innovator in the Shingle Style.
Bryn Athyn College is a private Christian college in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. It is affiliated with the General Church of the New Jerusalem.
Huntingdon Valley is a village, as well as a suburban mailing address located in Lower Moreland Township, Upper Moreland Township and Abington Township all in Montgomery County, and in small sections of Upper Southampton Township and Lower Southampton Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States, bordering the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia County.
Harold Frederick Pitcairn was an American aviation inventor and pioneer. He played a key role in the development of the autogyro and founded the Autogiro Company of America. He patented a number of innovations relating to rotary wing aircraft.
John Pitcairn Jr. was a Scottish-born American industrialist. With just an elementary school education, Pitcairn rose through the ranks of the Pennsylvania railroad industry, and played a significant role in the creation of the modern oil and natural gas industries. He went on to found the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, an early industry innovator which quickly grew into the largest manufacturer of plate glass in the United States, and amassed one of the largest fortunes in the United States at the time.
Raymond Pitcairn, son of PPG Industries founder John Pitcairn, was a lawyer, a businessman, a collector of ancient and medieval art, and an amateur architect. He supervised the building of the Bryn Athyn Cathedral, his own castle-mansion of Glencairn, and the "Zeus of the Catskills" Glen Tonche.
Theodore Pitcairn the son of PPG Industries founder John Pitcairn, was a clergyman, theologian, philanthropist, and connoisseur of the arts and antiquities.
The Bryn Athyn Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing an important collection of Arts and Crafts movement architecture in Bryn Athyn, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Designated in 2008, it includes three residential properties associated with the Pitcairn family who supported the movement, as well as Bryn Athyn Cathedral, all built by craftsmen employed by the Pitcairns.
The Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building—originally the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company Building—is an annex of the Philadelphia Museum of Art containing exhibition galleries, offices, conservation labs, and the museum library. It is an Art Deco building that features cathedral-like entrances and is adorned with sculpture and gilding. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Perelman Building is located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Fairmount Avenue, facing the Philadelphia Museum of Art's main building across Kelly Drive.
Cairnwood is a 26,000 square feet (2,400 m2) historic home located adjacent to the Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was designed by the architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings and built in 1895. The surrounding grounds were designed by Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot. It was built for John Pitcairn, Jr. (1841–1916), President of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. It is a 2½-story, Roman brick and limestone French country estate home in the Beaux Arts style. The L-plan house has 28 rooms, plus a chapel in the third story turret. Also on the property are a contributing stable and garden house built contemporary to the main house, and garage complex (1911). A contributing structure is the estate wall. The property is now owned by the Academy of the New Church and serves as a special events facility, specifically hosting weddings, corporate functions, fundraising and social events of all kinds.
Fetter's Mill Village Historic District is a national historic district located in Bryn Athyn and Lower Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It encompasses five contributing buildings and three contributing structures. They are a wagon shed / John Conner studio (1751), Alnwick Grove Train Station, Bryn Athyn Train Station / Post Office (1902), farmhouse, stone barn, two iron bridges, and a milk platform. Located in the district is the separately listed Fetter's Mill, built about 1740.
Bryn Athyn-Lower Moreland Bridge is a historic stone arch bridge located between Bryn Athyn and Lower Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The bridge was built in 1828 and in 1858. It has two 12-foot-long (3.7 m), semi-circular spans with an overall length of 75-foot (23 m). The bridge crosses a branch of Pennypack Creek.
The Richard H. Driehaus Museum is a museum located at 40 East Erie Street on the Near North Side in Chicago, Illinois, near the Magnificent Mile. The museum is housed within the historic Samuel M. Nickerson House, the 1883 residence of a wealthy Chicago banker. Although the mansion has been restored, the Driehaus Museum does not re-create the Nickerson period but rather broadly interprets and displays the prevailing design, architecture, and decorating tastes of Gilded Age America and the art nouveau era in permanent and special exhibitions.
John Henry Dye was an American civil engineer and surveyor based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His 1869 city map, made with printer Henry J. Toudy, has been described as "a major milestone in the urban mapping of Philadelphia."