Schenley Farms Historic District (Boundary Increase II)
No boundary or coordinates published for this district.
The National Park Service has not published a boundary polygon for this district; the map shows the listed properties inside it.
Why it's listed
Schenley Farms is a planned district in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh, laid out from 1905 by developer F. F. Nicola on a former pastoral tract that had been leased rather than sold by the Schenley family. Its residential portion holds houses by prominent local architects in revival styles, terraced along streets named for British and American literary figures. A wide boulevard, Bigelow Boulevard, separates these houses from a group of civic and cultural buildings, including the Carnegie Institute, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, and the Cathedral of Learning of the University of Pittsburgh. The district is regarded as a significant example of early twentieth-century planning on City Beautiful principles, combining the amenities of a suburb with the cultural life of the city. Its architecture, the work of leading local and national designers, is considered unusually high in quality, and its landscaping and underground utilities are noted as distinctive features.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | 1880-1939 |
|---|---|
| Styles | Beaux Arts, Classical, Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, and other early twentieth-century revival styles |
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Landscape Architecture, Education, Architecture |
| Acreage | 114.75 |
| Boundary source | not published |
| Full listing page | Schenley Farms Historic District (Boundary Increase II) (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.