Conveniently our lunch stop after visiting the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh was at the Speckled Egg next door to Pittsburgh's REI in their South Side district. This gave me a chance to sit and relax while Don bonded with the local green vests. Even more conveniently was that across the square (past a Mr. Rogers-themed dinosaur) is a Jeni's Ice Cream location. |
| Fred "Roar"gers ;) |
 |
Salted Peanut butter with
Chocolate flakes, Sweet Cream
biscuits with peach jam, Dairy-free
Peppermint Patty, Darkest Chocolate
|
 |
Two story rock climbing
at REI
|
While waiting for lunch I planned out the rest of the day. I had hoped to stop at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater on our way home, but they had already distributed their tickets for the day. I decided instead to backtrack and visit the Frick Museum and Gardens in the Point Breeze district.
After deciding to change course, the pieces fell into place just right. Frick offers tours called "Gilded but not Golden" about life in 1892 -- a pivotal year for the Frick family, Pittsburgh, and the nation. The tour is offered every 45 minutes and lasts 75 minutes. It was already 2:15 pm and we had wanted to be on the Pennsylvania Turnpike by 3 pm to start our five plus hour drive home. The timing did not make sense for us. When we were told the next tour was about to start and they only had four people on it, Don and I looked at each other and decided to do it.Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the house.
For the first time while in Pittsburgh, I remembered to bring my notebook while sightseeing. I listen better when I take notes, especially if I can't take pictures to prompt my memory.
Our docent, Bill, a retired math teacher who feels he landed the absolute best post-retirement gig, was fine with me taking notes, but blanched at the thought of my using a ball point pen inside the home. He asked around and found a pencil for me to use. That's the first time I have had that request!
The house is 93% original. When Henry Clay Frick's daughter Helen, also known as "our benefactor" donated the house to Pittsburgh upon her death in 1984 she left just about everything behind. We learned on the tour that the only changes that were made from the Gilded Age that could not be changed back were to the kitchen. When I think of other homes we have toured, such as the William Trent House in Trenton that has nothing original in it, this emphasized just how impressive this house tour would be. It would feel as if the Frick family could walk in on us at any moment. Archivists spent six years cataloging the collection and making repairs before it was opened to the public.
When Henry Clay Frick bought his home in 1882 it was a "simple" two-story, 11 room, Italianate-style home. Much too small for the growing family of an industrialist! They moved out for a few years years while two floors were added, and the house grew on two sides to its current 23-room chateau-style mansion. He named the house Clayton in honor of his family name.
Henry and his wife, Adelaide Childs, met with much tragedy. Of their four children, only their eldest son (named Childs) and their daughter, Helen, survive to adulthood. Their eldest daughter, Martha, died at age six from a blood disorder. Their youngest, Henry, died in 1892 at five weeks with the diagnosis "failure to thrive." Soon after their son was born, Mr. Frick was shot and took to his rooms in Clayton to recover as his wife recovered from childbirth, and their son died.
Helen, after watching other homes on what was once known as "millionaire's row" be demolished, she made sure her childhood home was preserved upon her death in 1984.
Throughout the home are tags on certain pieces describing not just what it cost, but what that equated to in terms of ordinary salaries. For example, in the covered front porch area sits an "orchestreon" (think an play piano that is an organ) would have cost Mr. Frick $5,000 in 1892, or at $2.10 a day, eight years of wages for someone working in his factory. The orchestreon was originally located in an alcove, but carefully moved to the porch when it was discovered the floor was sagging. That must have been quite a challenge since the door is smaller than the instrument.
Bill guided us inside to the parlor. Unfortunately none of us remembered to bring our calling cards, which would have been expected in the day. We learn the house was originally built with gas fixtures, and converted to electric ones. In the dining room we see the original chandelier that was fitted for both. Above the pictures in the parlor are electrical outlets. At some point there were lights above each painting.
The house was up on a hill, about eight miles from the active steel mills. This was decades before the advent of air conditioning. As a result, the furniture in the next room, where the women would have retreated after dinner, shows the furniture covered in fabric, charmingly referred to as their "summer whites."
We moved to the dining room, which is Bill's favorite room in the house. The woodwork was all done by Italian immigrants. So much woodwork was needed Mr. Frick had a lumbermill added to the property during the renovations.
While in the dining room we time traveled to 1902 when a most important guest was invited to the July 4th party: President Teddy Roosevelt. Less than a year earlier he became president when President William McKinley was assassinated. From what I've read, he was only selected to be vice president to keep him out of trouble, after all the vice president never does anything of consequence. An aside here ... Teddy said he would not run for a third term (which was allowed at the time), a decision he later regretted. When his predecessor (President William Henry Taft) did not follow through on the programs Teddy had started, he decided to run against him in the Bull Moose party, but did not win.
The July 4, 1902 party was for white men only. After all, women and minorities could not vote. There was a marine band performing on the lawn. It was quite an elaborate event.
We passed through the butlers' pantry on the way to the kitchen. In a modern home, the butlers' pantry decor with its paneled wood, large white farm-style sink, and glass cabinets showcasing the china would be spectacular. In this home, is was bland.
The kitchen is the room that had undergone the biggest transformation when Helen moved back in 1980 when she was an old lady. She wanted a dishwasher, microwave, and carpeting on the tiled floor. After she passed away in 1984 it was restored to be similar to how it would have looked when Mr. Frick was alive.
We passed a nook with a phone in it. A reminder of a simpler time when phone calls happened in select spaces and not everywhere.
The breakfast room is set up how it was on Thursday night poker nights rather than how it would have looked for breakfast the next morning. Rather than gold gilding, the room is decorated in aluminum gilding. Still quite swanky.
The family moved out from 1890 to 1892 so renovations could take place. In August 1891 their eldest daughter, Martha, died. When they moved back home in January 1892, they were in deep mourning. On January 1, 1892 received a promotion from Andrew Carnegie of Carnegie Steel. He was placed in charge of the labor contract. Negotiations were going no where. Workers were locked out. Scabs were brought in. It was a dark time in the history of steel industry in Pittsburgh. On July 6, 1892 Mr. Frick dissolves the union, lowers wages, and removes collective bargaining. Two days later his son, Henry Clay Frick, Jr. is born. Later that month, on July 23, a would-be assassin shoots him in his office, when that fails, he tries to stab him. Frick never loses consciousness. He asks to go home to recover in his bedroom.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Frick is recovering from childbirth in her bedroom. On August 5, 1892 their son dies.
The second floor is home to his bedroom, bathroom, and walk in closet, plus her bedroom, bathroom, and walk in closet. On the other side of her bathroom is the room where Helen grew up. Her big brother, Childs, slept on the third floor in a space that is not part of the tour. Also on the third floor is Mr. Frick's library, the coziest space on the tour with giant windows allowing daylight and breezes. The bedrooms are filled with family pictures, particularly ones of their eldest daughter.
Our 75-minute tour stretched to 90-minutes as we got into conversations and asked questions. It was a terrific tour. I would not recommend it on a hot summer day as the second floor is not air conditioned.
We walked outside and passed both the greenhouse and the "play house." The latter reminded me of the time we toured Boldt Castle on the waters between the United States and Canada. Neither was on tour.As we procrastinated getting in the car it was suggested we stop by the carriage house, which was included in our ticket. We saw dozens of classic cars, and were even allowed to pose inside one. Each car had a tag explaining its significance. Its history. Unfortunately, my mind had already shifted to the long drive home. The docent in that space was also a retired math teacher. She said the pandemic did her in. She, too, was thrilled to land this as her retirement gig since substitute teaching held no appeal.
