{"nrhp_refnum":"76001599","name":"Snyder, William Penn, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"852 Ridge Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.45035284700003,"lon":-80.01604131599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story city residence on the northeast corner of Ridge and Galveston Avenues on Pittsburgh's north side, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1911 for William Penn Snyder, a Pittsburgh industrialist.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is the city's sole and very late example of the small town palace, fitted closely onto a tight urban corner lot. It is also presented as an example of sensitive adaptive use, with its original interior and exterior detail largely maintained after the insurance company acquired it. Its basement treatment is cited as marking the advent of the modern age.","narrative":"Built in 1911 by George Orth and Brother for William Penn Snyder, a Pittsburgh industrialist, this three-story house occupies an entire narrow corner lot on Ridge and Galveston Avenues on the city's north side. Its design draws on the late French Renaissance and early twentieth-century classicism, with colossal fluted Ionic pilasters on the Ridge Avenue bays and a rusticated basement that holds a carriage entrance, a garage and a ballroom in the Louis XVI style. The interior is rich in ornate woodwork, plaster and stained glass. Snyder's residence served him until 1921. In 1930 the house was acquired as a regional office by an insurance company, which kept much of its original character and built a 1948 addition in Hummelstown brownstone. It is regarded as the city's sole late example of a small town palace built on a tight urban lot, and it reflects the mansion-building along Ridge Avenue at the time.","period_of_significance":"1911","architect_builder":"George Orth & Brother","architectural_style":"Late French Renaissance with simplified early twentieth-century classicism","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Used as a regional office of an insurance company since 1930, with a 1948 addition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.246423-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/76001599.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001599/38632b1d93-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001599/38632b1d93-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Lee Paxton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WilliamPennSnyderHouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Lee Paxton</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WilliamPennSnyderHouse.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"78002334","name":"Allegheny West Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/allegheny-west-historic-district-78002334/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997638","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Penn_Snyder_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8016766"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/snyder-william-penn-house-76001599/"}