{"nrhp_refnum":"79003142","name":"Sellers House","other_names":["Calvary Church Rectory"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"400 Shady Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.45537509700006,"lon":-79.92256323499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-09-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large 12-room red brick house with a cut stone basement in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, built in 1858 for Pricilla and Francis Sellers. It has two full stories, a dormered attic, a porte cochere and a wall dormer above it.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is significant for its association with the growth of Pittsburgh, as one of the first mansions built in what became Shadyside. Its eclectic design mixes Italian Villa, Medievalistic, Italianate and Second Empire elements, and most of its original wood and stone detailing survives. It is described as one of the two remaining large Shadyside mansions of the 1850-60 period.","narrative":"Built in 1858 for Pricilla and Francis Sellers on a ten-acre parcel in what is now Shadyside, Pittsburgh, this large red brick house has two full stories, a dormered attic and a cut stone basement, all painted. Its plan is a modified cross form with intersecting gabled roofs, and it has three decorative brick chimneys with round arched insets and granite copings. Carved wooden barge boards decorate the gable ends, and a porte cochere of carved wood, about 16 by 24 feet, sits beneath a wall dormer with a triple arched window. The house mixes Italian Villa and Medievalistic types with Italianate and Second Empire elements. It is valued for its association with the growth of Pittsburgh, as one of the first mansions in the district, and because most of its original wood and stone detailing survives. Carnahan family ownership lasted from 1888 to 1947, after which the church used it as a school and meeting place.","period_of_significance":"1858","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mixture of Italian Villa and Medievalistic types with elements of Italianate and Second Empire styles","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Used by Calvary Episcopal Church as a rectory; exterior virtually intact; pinnacles partially removed","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.142075-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79003142.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003142/0cbae4fe01-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003142/0cbae4fe01-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Lee Paxton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SellersHouse.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:SellersHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997742","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sellers_House_(Pittsburgh,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7448627"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/sellers-house-79003142/"}