Architectural attraction
Pittsburgh historic commission recommends Venturi house for landmark designation
Despite its dilapidated condition, a Woodland Road house in Squirrel Hill has been recommended for historic landmark status because it exemplifies postmodern architecture.
Members of the Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission voted 3-2 Wednesday in favor of the nomination by Donald Kortlandt, a city resident and general counsel to Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, the city’s oldest preservation group.
Mr. Kortlandt argued that the home deserves the designation because its architect, Robert Venturi, won the Pritzker Prize for architecture in 1991. Mr. Venturi, who died in September, designed the house with his widow, Denise Scott Brown. The house has attracted architecture enthusiasts from all over the world.
The historic landmark recommendation will be reviewed by the city’s planning commission
and then voted on by Pittsburgh City Council.
Mr. Kortlandt contacted the home’s new owners, William and Patricia Snyder, before he nominated the Venturi house for historic designation. The house was commissioned by the late Betty Abrams, who died in February. For many years, Mr. Kortlandt said, Mrs. Abrams had promised to give the home to PHLF. The preservation group would have placed an easement on the property to protect its exterior from being altered and then resold it, he said.
PHLF, Mr. Kortlandt said, never considered buying the house because it doesn’t invest in “high value homes in neighborhoods like this.” The Snyders offered an interest-free, 18-month loan to PHLF so that the organization could take the house apart, store it and rebuild it elsewhere but that plan did not come to fruition, Mr. Kortlandt said. PHLF, Mr. Kortlandt added, wanted a grant, not a loan. The Snyders also offered to give the home to PHLF.
Stanley Levine, an attorney for the Snyders, said during Wednesday’s hearing that if Mrs. Abrams had truly wanted to preserve the property, she would have offered PHLF a preservation easement while she was alive.
In a written statement filed with the historic review commission, Mr. Levin said that instead, in her will, Mrs. Abrams’ gave PHLF an option to buy her home but attorneys for her estate and PHLF could not agree on a price.
“It was not a true gift, as it required PHLF to fund and deliver an annuity to Betty Abrams’ two children before her estate was required to transfer title to the house,” Mr. Levine wrote in his statement.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Mr. Levine said the Snyders told lawyers for Mrs. Abrams’ estate that they planned to demolish the property and use the land as their backyard. The Snyders are restoring a home designed by Richard Meier that stands directly in front of the Venturi house.
Woodland Road, Mr. Levine noted, is a private road restricted to property owners and employees and students of Chatham University and their guests. Tourists who want to see the Venturi house would have to trespass twice by driving on Woodland Road and then on the shared driveway that runs between the Venturi and Meier homes.
“The house is in poor condition,” Mr. Levine said, partly because it sits in a gully and “water has drained onto this property for 35 years. There’s a mold infestation and rotten wood.”
Venturi The Snyders house on bought July the 20 and applied for a demolition permit on July 23. Mr. Kortlandt nominated the house for landmark status on Aug. 3. Joel Senchur, a local contractor who said he has remodeled homes in Manchester and the Hill District, told the commission that he talked with Mrs. Abrams’ about repairing the home’s broken windows. Mr. Senchur said the house is in poor condition and also has falling dry wall, mold in its interior walls, many leaks and an ant infestation. Mr. Senchur said the house could be built from scratch for less than what it would cost to preserve it. Two commission members opposed the nomination. Architect Karen Loysen said the Venturi house, constructed between 1979 and 1982, was built at a time when construction standards for residential homes were not high.
“It’s not really built all that well,” Ms. Loysen said.
Another commission member, Richard Snipe, also opposed the nomination, saying that the home’s workmanship was not worth restoring.