Whipple Street Houses: 7304, 7308, 7309, 7312, 7313, 7316, 7317, 7320, 7321, 7324, 7325 and 7328

Hey! Today we're headed to Swissvale, and the years 1904 and 1905 to see 12 houses that popped up right before the Old Heidelberg. 

Ready?

These homes looked, to me, like such quintessential "Pittsburgh Houses" that I would never have guessed that they are Frederick G. Scheibler's. They sit along the same block on Whipple Street, which used to be called Alice Avenue, and were commissioned by David B. Little and George H. Pfeil.

From the outside, I'm hard-pressed to point out any Scheibler signature details. However, Zillow.com provides some interior photos with the stained glass windows and built-in cabinets I expected!

7304 Whipple Street - born in 1905

7308 Whipple Street - born in 1905

7308 again

Zillow offers this shot of the inside of 7308. 

7309 Whipple Street -  1904

7309 again - hello!

7312 Whipple Street -  1905

7312 again

We get to peek inside 7312!

7312 Whipple

7312

7312

7313 Whipple Street -  1904

Gorgeous foyer of 7313

Inside of 7313 

Kitchen in 7313

7316 Whipple Street -  1905

7316 again

7317 Whipple Street - 1904

7320 Whipple Street -  1905

7321 Whipple Street -  1904

7324 Whipple Street -  1905

7325 Whipple Street, which I thought was the most interesting of the group.

7325 again, with a view of the side.  1904.

7328 Whipple Street -  1905

Syria, Kismet and Nelda (were not there!) 7530, 7534 and 7540 Bennett Street

We were too late for Syria, Kismet and Nelda!

Today Porter and I drove into Homewood to find three apartment buildings from 1904. Instead, we found empty lots. Many of the homes on this street have been boarded up or torn down, so I guess these buildings were lost.

Empty, Scheibler-less space

Martin Aurand's The Progressive Architecture of Frederick G. Scheibler, published in 1994, shows this photo:

Instead, I found the space beside this house:

Aurand writes that Syria, Kismet and Nelda had art glass transoms with oversized floral motifs and dining- and living room windows with exposed steel I-beams and art glass vines.

Milligan School, 2500 Braddock Avenue

Today I let my exhausted Beagle hitched a ride. He's a good little commuter.

We headed down Braddock Avenue into Swissvale to visit an early building, the Milligan School (formerly Hawkins School) from 1904. It has since been converted into "Milligan Manor" apartments, which accept Section 8 vouchers.

The school was designed to fulfill the vision of the Board of the Swissvale Borough School District, and the two-story brick building with eight rooms (including center pavilion) has been described as his most conventional design of Scheibler's career. 

side view

You can see that the windows have been replaced or filled in.

Ok, Milligan School. Check!

Arden Apartments, 7710 Waverly Street

Ready to go! Porter and I headed from Braddock down Waverly to find the Arden Apartments, designed 1904.



I knew this building, but didn't recognize it as a Scheibler building at first.

This photo from Martin Aurand's book on Scheibler shows what the Arden Apartments must have looked like not too long ago, with a stained glass entry depicting a ship. 

Aurand writes that the ship was copied out of a book on contemporary English architecture and decoration. He suggests that this was Scheibler's first custom-fabricated art glass. 

From the book "The Progressive Architecture of Frederick G. Scheibler," published in 1994.

Back to today… The ship is gone.

rear

side

Side, and original red color

We wandered inside a little.