Alexander and Cordelia King House
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Baywood
1880s. 5501 Elgin St., Highland Park
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(William E. Fischer, Jr.)
Baywood sits on land that Virginian William Heth sold to Jacob Negley (ancestor to the Mellon family) in 1799. In 1856, it became the estate of Alexander King (grandfather to Richard King Mellon), who introduced soda ash to the glass-manufacturing industry. When the house that Negley built burned in 1879, King replaced it with this two-and-one-half-story red brick structure in a somewhat stiff Second Empire style, with a mansard roof, single- and double-arched dormer windows, and tall square tower. A greenhouse veranda across the front allowed Cordelia King to raise exotic plants and butterflies. Unfortunately, the two subsequent generations of the family who occupied the house allowed its lush planted terraces to go to ruin. Deeded in 1954 to the city of Pittsburgh as a cultural center, the mansion was sold in 1994 and was restored as a single-family dwelling.
Writing Credits
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Data
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Location: Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaRegional Overviews:Styles:Materials:
Timeline
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1880
Built -
1954
Cultural center -
1994
Restored
What's Nearby
Citation
Lu Donnelly et al., "Baywood", [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-01-AL100.
Print Source
Buildings of Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Lu Donnelly, H. David Brumble IV, and Franklin Toker. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, 111-111.
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