Shady Ave Magazine

Chatham College Rescues Howe-Childs Gate House

By Genna McLaughlin

It has stood empty during the last 15 years as passersby watched it deteriorate into an eyesore on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Woodland Road in Shadyside. Now, Chatham College will renovate the Howe-Childs Gate House, Pittsburgh�s oldest frame house and oldest surviving house on �Millionaires Row.�

Chatham College purchased the house from owners Shirley and Alvin Weinberg for $350,000 on Dec. 6, 2000. According to Chatham President Esther Barazzone, the college will renovate the house for use as headquarters for the Chatham College Arboretum. The house will also provide guestrooms for official college visitors and campus meeting spaces. The total project cost, including purchase price, is estimated at $1.5 million.

�The Howe-Childs Gate House has a deep and rich history interwoven with Pittsburgh�s past and the history of Chatham College,� Barazzone said. �We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring this historic landmark back to life.�

The 2 1/2 story clapboard Gothic Revival house was built in 1860 by Civil War hero Thomas Howe as the gatehouse to his Greystone Estate. Its former owners also included members of the Childs families and oil magnate Michael Benedum. The main house, which stood on the hill overlooking Fifth Avenue, was replaced by the home of Michael Benedum in 1910.

The Benedum Foundation donated the gatehouse to Chatham College in 1959. The college used the home as a residence hall and academic building until 1985 when financial hardships forced the college to sell the house along with other property.

Development company Greystone Associates bought the gatehouse in 1985. Greystone also bought 7 1/4 acres of the Howe estate to develop townhouses and condominiums. The city approved the project but required Greystone to pursue an historic designation for the gatehouse. Pittsburgh City Council designated it an historic landmark in 1986.

In 1988, Greystone sold the gatehouse to the Weinbergs for $175,000. The house has been unoccupied and has been the subject of numerous court battles surrounding its possible demolition. The State Supreme Court denied the owners permission to demolish the house because of its historic significance.

�Chatham College was not in a financial position until now to purchase the Howe-Childs Gate House,� said Barazzone.

According to Barazzone, the college will raise funds toward the purchase price and renovation costs. Already, Chatham has raised $740,00 from four gifts, including a $100,000 gift from the Weinbergs and $90,000 from a Keystone Historic Preservation Grant from the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission.

Through Chatham�s efforts, the Howe-Childs Gate House is now listed as an official project of Save America�s Treasures, a public-private partnership between the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

�President Clinton and the First Lady created Save America�s Treasures in 1998 to increase public awareness and generate new resources to address the enormous back log of national and local preservation needs,� said Executive Director of Save America�s Treasures, Bobbie Greene. �We applaud Chatham�s efforts to give a brighter future to this important remnant of the local community�s past.�

"The house has been deteriorating for many years," said Pittsburgh City Councilman Dan Cohen. "I am glad to see that Chatham has purchased and will renovate the property. It will add value to the property and the surrounding community."

The renovation of the Howe-Childs Gate House is one of a number of Chatham�s preservation projects. The college, which owns 32 acres surrounding historic Woodland Road, has been recognized numerous times in the last two years for the preservation of historic buildings and art treasures on its campus.

Most recently, the American Institute of Architects Pittsburgh Chapter recognized architects Einhorn Yaffee Prescott of Boston for the renovation of Chatham�s Louise C. Buhl Hall of Science, circa 1939, and addition of the Science Laboratory Building. The jurors noted that the project didn�t succumb to the �impulse to design in a neo-historical manner. They successfully incorporated a contemporary language that seems sympathetic to the older architecture.�

Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation recognized Chatham in 2000 for restoring and re-installing the Alumnae Memorial Window, created by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1889, in the new Science Complex on campus.