Documenting the age of buildings constructed prior to September 1916 and identifying their architects is often difficult in Western Pennsylvania.

On that date, the Builders’ Exchange began to publish The Builders’ Bulletin, a weekly periodical that listed “Contracts to Be Let” and “Contracts to Be Awarded,” giving the names of clients, architects, fabricators, and ultimately contractors, as well as other useful information for builders and architects. (Today this information is available online.)

Similar publications appeared in Chicago in 1883, in Philadelphia in 1886, and in Cleveland in 1899.

These publications — The Inland Architect, the Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders’ Guide, and the Interstate Architect & Builder — did include information on some Pittsburgh buildings, primarily major civic or commercial projects. Coverage of residential construction is sparse and variable.

If documenting the residential architecture of metropolitan Pittsburgh prior to World War I is a daunting task, it can be as interesting as it is challenging. Our region has a great deal of handsome residential architecture, primarily post-Civil War. Individual houses and groupings of houses draw our attention: “When were these built• and “Who was responsible?”

Take, for example, houses on Elmhurst Place (originally Elmhurst Road) and Hampton Road in Fox Chapel. The houses that line these picturesque wooded streets span 100 years; the oldest was built in 1904 and the most recent in 2004.

Seven houses, built between 1904 and 1925, are the most interesting architecturally. The oldest house — 208 Hampton — is a charming stucco house with an Austro-Germanic hipped gable roof and eyebrow windows. Its 1925 neighbor to the north at 301 Hampton has the look of an English cottage with its shingled roof, segmental dormer and bay window.

These houses remind us that Austrian, German and British house designs can be found in metropolitan Pittsburgh, largely through the influence of illustrated architectural magazines such as Der Architekt (1895-1910) from Vienna, Die Architekture des XX jahrhunderts (1901-14) from Berlin, and The Builder (1842-1966) and The Studio (1893-1964) from England.

The Pittsburgh Architectural Club, founded in 1896, worked with the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh to subscribe to these journals so local architects could see contemporary British and European work. In addition, the architectural club held regular exhibitions between 1900 and 1917 to which British and Austro-Germanic architects and artists sent their work for display.

The remaining five houses, four on Elmhurst Place and one on Hampton Road, differ from 208 and 301 Hampton but are equally interesting. These five houses share at least one design element that suggests they may be the work of one architect.

The earliest house in this group, located at the corner of West Waldheim Road and Elmhurst Place, dates from 1908 — the date is helpfully and prominently displayed on the massive chimney.

The design is American Craftsman, promoted by Gustav Stickley of New York in illustrated articles and house designs published in his influential magazine, The Craftsman (1901-1916). Stickley’s Craftsman furnishings, hardware, textiles, etc., sold through licensed dealers such as McCreery & Company in Pittsburgh.

The house has a brick first story and a shingled second story. The wide eaves of the hipped roof are supported by outsized brackets. The rugged stonework of the chimney is complemented by round stone piers at the Elmhurst Place entryway (actually the rear of the house) and by the rugged stone piers and steps of the main entrance, notable for its diagonal orientation and cantilevered roof.

This dramatic feature recalls the porte-cochere and entrance of Greene & Greene’s Blacker house in Pasadena, Calif., completed in 1908. As we will see, a similar porch configuration will appear in a neighboring house in 1910.

Up the block and across the street are two houses visually related to their 1908 neighbor and to one another. 1003 Elmhurst is a brick house of 1913 with a shingle second story; parallel gables with short-bracketed eaves face the street; they are separated by a massive brick chimney.

A distinctive and unusual feature is the arch in the center of the porch that anchors the house and visually connects the porch to the chimney. At the base of the arch is a planter.

A similar pattern of planter, porch arch, and chimney is found on the neighboring house of 1910 at 1005 Elmhurst. Here the first story is stone (note the round piers).

At the corner of Elmhurst and Hampton, 1007 Elmhurst is the most dramatically sited of the houses. Erected in 1910, it has a brick and stucco first story and a stucco second story with half-timbering and a massive stone chimney.

Here the look is English Arts & Crafts, the progenitor of the American movement, but with medieval elements. It has a diagonal cantilevered front porch, like the 1908 house, as well as rounded porch piers and prominent brackets.

The fifth house, 213 Hampton Road, was built in 1920. It shares half-timbering with 1007 Elmhurst and stone porch piers and columns with 1005, and replicates the porch arch-chimney design on 1003 and 1005.

In 1983, the buildings of Elmhurst Place were surveyed by the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation as part of a five-year architectural survey of Allegheny County. The owners of the imposing house at the corner of Elmhurst and Hampton were Louise and Kenneth Boesel.

Mrs. Boesel (1919-2007) was a trustee of Landmarks. She recalled the name of their architect: “Chester May Sr.” Chester D. May (1915-2005) was a general contractor in Aspinwall, but he was 10 years old when the last of the seven houses we have seen was erected in 1925. He worked with his dad, architect/builder Wilbur M. May, who, in fact, designed the house.

Wilbur M. May (1885-1961) was born in Fairmont, W.Va. He came to Aspinwall in 1907 to build St. Scholastica Church (and so could not have been responsible for the 1904 Hampton Road residence). By 1909, the May family was living at 309 Eastern Ave., Aspinwall; between 1910 and 1926, there were seven children.

Wilbur May served as director and later president of Dime Savings Building and Loan Association. He was a member of the Aspinwall Fire Department 1917-61, and served as borough councilman from 1928-32 and 1954-61. Son Chester worked with his father’s construction firm for 27 years.

Only one of Wilbur May’s documented buildings remains — the Aspinwall Woman’s Club (1926). St. Scholastica Church (1907); Montrose School, O’Hara Township; Boyd School, O’Hara Township; and Aspinwall High School (1917-19) have been demolished.

The Elmhurst Road Historic District was designated by Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation in 2007. The designation brings public recognition only to the architectural significance of the buildings and does not impose any restrictions on the owners. More than 525 properties in Allegheny County have been awarded Historic Landmark Plaques.

Albert M. Tannler is historical collections director of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.

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