5945 Fifth Avenue,Pittsburgh PABy Wenfei Luo and Frank ReichardSupervisor: Justin GreenawaltFranklin West Inc. | East Liberty Valley Historical Society | 2014

Statement of Significance

The Bingham/Guffey House at 5945 Fifth Avenue/614 South Highland Avenuefigures prominently into the history and development of Pittsburgh’s East End.As one of the earliest Gilded Age houses to be built in the area, it is one of thelast to remain.

Built in 1884 for Kate Virginia Vandergrift Bingham and her husband, James M.Bingham, the house has strong ties to Pittsburgh's industrial past and links tosome of the city's most noteworthy industrialists.

History of the East End

Today, many of the eastern neighborhoods of Pittsburgh identifythemselves with individual names like Shadyside, Point Breeze, East Liberty, andHighland Park. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, much of the area wascollectively known as the East End. At the heart of it all was East Liberty.

The name East Liberty has its basis in the British tradition of public“liberties,” or grazing grounds. A land grant to Caspar Taub was made c 1764in order to grow food for British troops positioned at the forks of the Ohio.

Among the first permanent settlers to the area were Alexander Negley andJohn Conrad Winebiddle. The combined land of both of these familiescomprises much of what is now known today as East Liberty, Friendship,Highland Park, Larimer, Garfield, and Stanton Heights.

Moving beyond its agricultural roots, East Liberty became a tavern town; aresult of being position along the Forbes Road, known today as Penn Avenue.Later the area developed as a commercial hub after the Pennsylvania Railroadopened its line connecting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on February 15, 1854.

As a result of its excellent connectivity and open, rural qualities, the EastLiberty Valley began to attract wealthy Pittsburgh industrialists. This influxincluded the likes of Henry Clay Frick, George Westinghouse, Jacob J.Vandergrift, H. J. Heinz, and Judge Thomas Mellon and his sons. These wealthymen built large and often extravagant homes on sizeable lots, some of which stillstand today. Concentrated along Fifth Avenue and Penn Avenue in an area laterknown as Shadyside, the house at 5945 Fifth Avenue was one of these grandhomes.

Built c. 1884 for James Bingham and his wife Kate Virginia VandergriftBingham, the house at 5945 Fifth Avenue was an example of the Queen Annemode of architecture. Although a definitive attribution cannot be made,elements of the original design indicate George S. Orth as the probablearchitect. Chimneys, massing, materials, and details are similar to those of extantOrth buildings. George S. Orth was responsible for numerous houses in theneighbrohood, including the Mary Hays house (neighbor to 5945 Fifth Avenue,demolished), the Charles Hart Spencer house on Amberson Avenue (extant), andthe a proposed design for Sunnyledge at Fifth and Wilkins Avenues (not built).

Physical Description

Built c. 1884, the building is a 2 and ½ story, masonry and wood structure.

Originally, the house was built as a single-family dwelling. It has sincebeen converted to use as a multi-family dwelling; a common occurrence witholder buildings in this neighborhood.

Historically, the house was representative of the Queen Anne mode. Inthe mid-1920s, the house was substantially altered. As altered, it is anamalgamation of many architectural modes and elements, but is largelyrepresentative of the Prairie Style, evidenced by its shallow hipped roof, deep,overhanging eaves, massive squared masonry piers, and a strong horizontality.

The building is sited on a 10,832 square foot lot at the intersection of FifthAvenue and South Highland Avenue. The lot decreases in elevation as it slopesaway (north) from Fifth Avenue.

The building sits on a foundation of roughhewn sandstone. An ashlarwater table runs almost the full perimeter of the house, visually separating thefoundation from the upper walls. The exterior walls are load bearing masonry,deep red brick covered with a white, Portland cement based stucco veneer.Interior walls are largely of wood construction.

The red, Spanish clay tile roof is hipped with a shallow slope. Deep,overhanging eaves are a noteworthy feature. Four simply detailed, buff brickchimneys penetrate the roof line. Three hipped-roof dormers are centered onthe northern, southern, and western elevations.

The footprint of the house is predominantly square, but asymmetric. Atwo-story height bay projects on the western elevation. The southeastern cornerof the house has a diagonally projecting, two-story height bay. A projectingtwo-story height (basement, first floor) addition on the northern side of thehouse was added during the mid-1920s conversion and alteration.

Southern Façade Elevation

Facing Fifth Ave, the southern facade is two and one-half stories tall with threedistinct bays. The exterior walls are load bearing and of a brick composition. Thebuilding exterior is covered in a white, cementitious stucco. The roof is of ashallow, hipped construction with deep, overhanging eaves.

A dormer with a 3 paned casement clerestory window projects from the lowpitched red tile roof of the upper story. A slender tall chimney sits to thesoutheast of the dormer.A pathway with two steps of staircase lead to the main entrance of the building,which locates in the center of the front facade. Three white stucco columnssupport the red spanish clay tile hanging roofs that project from the main wall,forming a one story porch arcade.

To the west of the front door, on the first floor, two 8 over 2 casement windowsare paired. On the first floor, to the east of the front door is a curved wallflanking the main wall and the colonnade base to enclose the porch. Above thecurved wall sits a diagonally projecting bay, with one of the total three sashwindows facing the south.

On the second floor, two slender sash windows being close to each other wereput above the entrance. Another two slender windows are placed at the westend of the wall.

Fig. Southern Elevation

Fig. Details, Southern Facade

Eastern Façade Elevation

The eastern elevation faces South Highland Avenue. It consists of five distinctbays with two stories fully visible and a portion of the basement level exposed atthe northern end.

At the southern end of the façade a two-story height diagonal bay projectstoward the intersection of Fifth and South Highland Avenues. On the first floor,the projecting bay is squared and features two side-by-side wood casementwindows surmounted by side-by-side 12 light transom windows. Historic photosindicate that this is the location of the original entrance to the house. Wear fromfoot traffic on the stone water table beneath the window confirms that this wasonce the location of a door.

On the second floor, the diagonally projecting bay is semi hexagonal,punctuated by 1/1 wood windows and surmounted by a shallow hipped roof.

On the first floor, a hipped roof porch with red Spanish clay tile projects fromthe main structure toward South Highland Avenue. This porch is an additiondating to the mid-1920s. The porch is partially enclosed on the southern endwith two side-by-side, wood double casement windows. The windows aresurmounted by two side-by-side 14 light transoms. The porch is supported onthe northern end with a square, masonry pier. A wrought iron balustrade ofsimple design is present. The porch is of poured concrete construction. A flightof four poured concrete stairs grant access to the porch. A large entry door andstained glass window punctuate the space beneath the porch roof.

Above this porch, a squared projection extends. The projection has two side-by-side casement windows surmounted by two side-by-side 8 light transomwindows. Historic photos indicate that this was originally the location of a stairlanding.

On the first floor, to the right of the porch at the northern end of the elevation,is a tall, arched, tripartite wood window. This window is original to the building.The window is divided into three sections by two carved, wooden mullions. Thecentral, larger section is surmounted by a polychromatic, stained glass transom.An oval glass pane with radiating muntons is the focal point. This centraltransom is flanked on either side by smaller windows with polychromatic stainedglass arranged in grid. An ornately carved wood panel sits beneath the window.The panel features two symmetric scrolls with other jigsaw work. Historic photosreveal that this window was once trimmed in stone, removed in the mid-1920s.

Above the arched window is a pair of 1/1 wood windows.

Fig. Eastern Elevation

Fig. Details, Eastern Facade

Western Façade Elevation

The western elevation consists primarily of two parts: the main house and a twostory (basement and first floor) addition. The site topography slopes to thenorth, away from Fifth Avenue.

A 1920s addition extends to the left (north) end of the facade. A string courseseparates the basement and first floor. A shallow slope, hipped roof withmoderate eaves covers the addition and a 6/1 wood window punctuates thewall.

The walls above the basement stringcourse lare covered in a white stuccoveneer. The facade of the main house has three primary bays, with a wideprojecting bay in the middle.

On the basement level, there are two evenly spaced sash windows and a door.Paired 1/1 sash windows punctuate the projecting central bay.

On the first floor, a balcony projects at the left (northern) end of the facade. Awooden balustrade runs the length of this bay. A steep pitch overhang covers adoor to the balcony. A narrow, tall window penetrates the wall to the right ofthat entrance.

The second floor is punctuated by two tall, narrow 1/1 sash windows.

The projecting, central bay consists of a central wide plane and diagonal planeson both sides; on the central plane of the projecting bay there are two sashwindows on the basement, a paired sash window on first story, and diamondpaned casement windows on the second floor.

A small projection extends to the right of the central projecting bay. Thisprojection is one story in height and features a small stained glass window. Anidentical stained glass window punctuates the wall directly about this projection.

Beside the small projection, a large 1/1 sash window punctuates the first floorwith another one above it on the second floor.

Fig. Details, Western Facade

Fig. Western Elevation

Northern Façade Elevation

The northern elevation consists of 3-1/2 levels facing a small parking lot. Thefirst two levels are split between the original house, and a square two storyaddition.

The first level consists entirely of the basement indicated by the stonefoundation that runs the full length of the first level. An off-center door leadsinto the basement.

The square addition dominates the right side of the façade with a slenderwooden stringcourse separating the first and second levels. The first level of theaddition consists entirely of sandstone foundation blocks.

The second level consists of 3 windows. One sash window on the original house,two paired 6 over 1 sash windows on the addition. The addition includes a veryshallow roof with a slight hip that extends slightly past the building itself.

The third Level consists of 5 windows of varying size. The first two windows aresash windows are of the same height but different width. To the right of thesewindows are two smaller casement windows with side by side panes. The largerof the two consists of small diamond panes. A door on the second floor leads toa small wooden balcony/deck that rests atop of the roof of the northernaddition. The third level is capped by the hipped roofline.

The uppermost 1/2 story features a dormer divided by three stained glasscasment windows.

Fig. North Elevation

Fig. Details, North Facade Addition

TheOriginalHouse

The original house at 5945 Fifth Ave was built circa 1884 in the Queen Anne Style.Thiswas the most popular style for houses in North America from 1880 to 1900. The pre-renovation house at 5945 Fifth Avenue had a steep roof with cross gable running from northto south, an asymmetrical facade, and an expansive porch with decorative trim. A polygonalfront corner tower with a conical roof is another distinctive Queen Anne feature that still existson the building, extending toward the corner of South Highland Avenue and Fifth Avenue.

The historical photograph above suggests that, although the third story of the originalbuilding was removed in the 1920s, the new Prairie style house still maintained great integrityof the first and second story. The placement of the four tall and slender original chimneys arestill the same, despite having been replaced by new, lower chimneys of buff brick. Theexpansive porch has been removed, but was replaced by a new front porch supported bysquared concrete piers. The main entrance, once in the polygonal projecting tower, has beenaltered, replaced with four wood casement windows.

On the second floor, southern facade, four narrow windows remain. The arched windowwith keystone has been removed. The polygonal corner tower once had a second story porch,now removed.

The eastern facade maintains the same placement of many of its windows. However,careful inspection of the photgraph reveals a large, central window. This most likely was thelocation of a grand stair. This projection has been removed.

The present house still maintains similar structural elements and fenestration for the firstand second story of the original building. By removing the third story and adding fourdormers on the roof, the house has been given a more horizontal and symmetrical feel typicalof a Praire Style home.

Pittsburgh Illustrated, 1889

The Site

The land that 5945 Fifth Avenue currently sits on what was initially part of the 350 acreRobert McFarland estate. Most of this estate was partitioned and sold off in the late 19th andearly 20th centuries.

Historic insurance maps indicate that the McFarlands owned the plot of land on thecorner of Fifth and South Highland Avenues until the late 19th century when it was furthersubdivided and sold. One known structure belonging to the McFarland estate (much altered)sits today on Kentucky Avenue, near South Highland Avenue.

The plot of land at Fifth and South Highland Avenues was purchased by industrialistJacob J. Vandergrift in 1883 and then transfered to his daughter Kate and son-in-law JamesBingham in 1884 for $12,000. James and Kate sold the property one year later on October10,1885 for $22,500. The difference in price indicates a substantial improvement to theproperty. This most often indicates the construction of a house.

Throughout the 20th century the property has seen many different owners andalterations, but the site has remained largely unchanged.

1872          MC  FARLAND  ESTATE                

FRAME  STRUCTURE

1874 John M. Kennedy

1881 James E. Schwartz

1883 JJ Vandergrift

1884 Kate V. Bingham

1885 Margaret Boyle

1889 James M. Guffey

Fig.1 1872McFarland Estate

Fig.2 1882 James E. SchwartzFrame Stucture

Fig.3 1904 JamesGuffey

HighVictorianHouse in Brick

Timeline:Property Transfer

History

1872          MC  FARLAND  ESTATE                

FRAME  STRUCTURE

1907 Joseph Seep

1919 People's Natural Gas Co.

1922 John E, Born

1931 Commonwealth Trust Co.

of Pittsburgh

1948 George E. Born

1948 Daniel C. and Grace Richards

1951 Lillian I. Brown

1955 Robert R. and Betty McMillen

1982 James E. and Gail P. Sweeney

1989 Arthur M. and Lorna P. Santos

1991 Donna R. Rabner

2005 Shadyside Properties, Inc.

Fig.4 1923 JohnE. BornPrairieHouse

Fig. 5 1939CommonwealthTrust Co., StuccoHouse,

Addition Added

5945 Fifth Avenue's Industrialists

James McClurg Guffey

James McClurg Guffey (1839-1930) was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania nearpresent day Madison. After leaving Pennsylvania for work in Kentucky, Guffey returned in1865 to pursue his fortunes in oil and gas.

Guffey would become involved with numerous oil and gas companies, but his legacy is GulfOil.

In January 1901, oil was discovered near Beaumont, TX; a place called Spindletop. Later thatyear, Guffey formed the J.M. Guffey Petroleum Company in partnership with fellowPittsburghers Richard Beatty Mellon and Andrew W. Mellon to exploit this discovery. The menformed the Gulf Refining Company to process the oil produced by Guffey's enterprise.

In 1907, Gulf Oil Corporation was formed as an amalgamation of the J.M. Guffey PetroleumCompany and the Gulf Refining Company. Guffey's interest in the company was purchased bythe Mellons and other investors for $3 million (the equivalent of approximately $76 milliontoday).

Back in Pennsylvania, Guffey also dabbled in politics. In 1878, he ran for Congress as aDemocratic nominee, but lost. Guffey never ran for office again, but stayed active in thepolitical arena. He was elected to the National Democratic Convention in 1898 and held hisposition until 1908.

J.M. Guffey purchased 5945 Fifth Avenue from James and Margaret Boyle in February 1889.He lived in the house with his wife Elizabeth, his daughters Elizabeth and Mary, his sonThomas, and three servants, Minnie, Genevieve, and Catherine.

In 1903, Guffey's financial position necessitated a larger, more substantial house. Hepurchased the Mesler house at 5025 Fifth Avenue (now demolished) and had it significantlyenlarged by Philadelphia architect George T. Pearson.

J.M. Guffey sold 5945 Fifth Avenue in 1907 to Joseph Seepof Titusville, Pennsylvania.

James M. Guffey

Joseph Seep

Joseph Seep was born May 7, 1838 in Hanover,Germany. His family immigrated to the United States in1849 and settled in Richmond, Indiana. Seep latermoved to Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1869 to engage inthe oil trade as an executive of the Standard OilCompany.

He became a prominent fixture in Titusville andbuilt St. Catherine's Cemetery, known locally as one of“the handsomest locations in the state, and the prideof Titusville.”Along with St. Catherine's he built theonly Richardsonian Romanesque home in Titusville,designed by Enoch A. Curtis, in 1891. Seep’s primaryresidence was in Titusville but he owned the house at5945 Fifth Avenue until 1919, when he sold it to thePeoples Natural Gas Company.

John E. Born

John E. Born was born in 1869 in Pennsylvania to German-born parents. John Born wasone of the most prolific builders and developers in Pittsburgh's East End. He was responsiblefor the development and constructing numerous homes in Point Breeze, Highland Park, andGreenfield as part of John E. Born & Co.

Born was active in building and demolition. In 1922, he acquired and began demolitionon "Homewood," the Judge Wilkins estate in Point Breeze. This Greek Revival house, alsoknown as the Coleman House, figures prominently into the collective architectural heritage ofPittsburgh. Members of the Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University) were permittedto document the building before Born demolished it.

In the same year, Born bought the property of 5945 Fifth Ave from Peoples Natural GasCo. with $30,000. In mid 1920s, John made substantial alterations to the original house;removing a full story, adding a stucco veneer, and installing a tile roof, turning it into a PrairieStyle duplex.

Although a noteworthy developer, Born had substantial tax deliquincies on his lands. In a1927 Pittsburgh Press article, a motion by the City was approved to acquire about 5.7 acres ofland from Born in the Greenfield district in return for an exoneration of $72,000 of delinquenttaxes

In 1931, Frank I. Gollmar, Sheriff sold the property at 5945 Fifth Avenue toCommonwealth Trust Co. of Pittsburgh for unpaid taxes and deliquent mortgage payments.

In 1948, Born’s son, George E. Born purchased 5945 Fifth Avenue, but sold it later thatyear. The property was then subdivided and an apartment building was constructed on thesite of the original carriage house.

Joseph Seep

Archives Consulted

The Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds

The Carnegie Mellon University Library

The Carnegie Mellon Public Library

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