1306 Penn Avenue Home, Wilkinsburg

Today's post comes to you thanks to someone who sent me a message about 1306 Penn Avenue. He wanted to confirm that this now-vacant house is a Scheibler house.

It is. It was built in 1909 for Dr. James M. McNall. At the time, it had a garage, which has since been demolished. This was during the period in which Scheibler's homes were modest, but still included sophisticated artistic details and stunning art glass. In his book The Progressive Architecture of Frederick G. Scheibler, Martin Aurand uses a photo of a window in this house to exemplify how Scheibler "embraced the seeming dichotomy of nature vis-à-vis technology, as he revealed by his art-glass irises and I-beam lintels."

from The Progressive Architecture of Frederick G. Scheibler by Martin Aurand

It appears that the most recent inhabitant has passed away, and the property is becoming a bit overgrown.

I'm grateful to the reader for sending me the following photos so we can check out the details. When I asked him if he could send me a picture, he offered me 13! Now you can enjoy them too and imagine the thrill of exploring it in person! They have a bit of a haunted quality as the house has been left alone for a while.

1090 Devon Road, House

Hello! If you're a return visitor, be sure to wade back into some old entries. Since starting this blog,  I've been adding interior shots to past blog entries. I recently added inside shots of the gorgeous 121 LaCrosse and also 420 East End Avenue.

Also, past and current owners have been lending some insight about the properties. I love all the great information in these comments from a former owner of one of the Starr Houses!

Moving along, yesterday, Porter and I drove to Oakland to find 1090 Devon Road. Devon Road sits right across Forbes Avenue from Carnegie Mellon University. 

Well hi!

This very asymmetrical home was designed in 1909 for Charles W. Baird. In The Progressive Architecture of Frederick G. Scheibler, Martin Aurand counts it among Scheibler's "Artistic Houses."

 I felt like there was an optical illusion that made the doorway look extra short from the street, like a gnome's door!

The four-legged resident was very interested in Porter!

I found these photos on Zillow. I love how the staircase is tucked into this room!

Scroll down to see a much older photograph taken from this same angle!

These photos are from The Progressive Architecture of Frederick G. Scheibler. 

The exterior photos show how the home was built into Pittsburgh's hilly terrain, with the rear terrace cut out in an exposed foundation. I love the cone-shaped alcove in the back! Someone could enjoy breakfast there while gazing out over Oakland and the Cathedral of Learning.

423 South Braddock Avenue, Old Heidelberg Cottage, and 425 South Braddock Avenue, attached house

It makes me feel a little wistful to finish showing you my very favorite building! Here are the last additions to the Old Heidelberg. The final cottage was built in 1908. You can see, below, how it attaches to the Old Heidelberg and becomes yet another element that saves the building from perfect symmetry. The attachments on the right side of the building (from the sidewalk) help the building sprawl closer toward the street in an elegant and ambling way. Reportedly, the adjoining cottages were never part of the original plan for the Old Heidelberg, but now I can't imagine the sprawling structure without them. 

Rear window

Here are some interior photos from Mozart Management's website. (You can see more gorgeous photos of the inside of this cottage and the interesting floorplan if you click here.) I once entered during the tenant's yard sale and wished I'd had my camera then!

Then in 1909, Scheibler added a single home and attached it to the Old Heidelberg with an archway. While I believe it was once a single-family home, today it is four apartments. While Mozart Management owns the Old Heidelberg, this building is owned by an individual.

This is that home. 

An arch over a walkway connects the two buildings. A Beagle butt made it into the photo!

Love the stained glass.

Today, the home has been turned into apartments. I love the big back window, which I imagine should overlook a beach or pastoral scene, not an urban alley where all the area dog owners seem to leave their dogs' poop.  (Watch your step on Flotilla Way!) Anyway, yes indeed, this photo, taken through the front door, is a little creepy of me. This could be remedied if Scheibler owners would invite me inside for tours.

I've now blogged the entire Old Heidelberg--a beautiful site to behold!

Update! Today my heart skipped a beat when I realized that the second-floor dweller of 425 Braddock Avenue was holding a moving sale. I got to meet him - a very nice guy with great adventures ahead -- and see inside the building.

A hallway takes you from the front door to each unit. The apartment I visited today took up the entire second floor.

This hallway has an incredible amount of light! I was so excited to get inside, I neglected to look outside...I wish I would have peered into the curious and fenced back yard.