The Gateway House

ca. 1980

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The Gateway House
  • Title
  • The Gateway House
  • Date
  • ca. 1980
  • Identifier
  • PCC000064
  • Description
  • The Gateway House was built in 1860 as the gatehouse to the Thomas Marshall Howe mansion. Today, it is one of the oldest structures on the portion of Fifth Avenue called "Millionaires Row." Thomas Howe (1808-1877) moved to Pittsburgh in 1829 and became a successful industrialist involved in banking, mining, and manufacturing. He also served four years as a US Representative. Howe's widowed daughter, Mary Howe Childs, lived in the house until 1947, when Michael Benedum bought the main house and all its land. Benedum leased the gatehouse until 1961, when the College received the entire property as a gift from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. The Foundation also gave the College approximately $4,000 for improvements. At first it was used as a residence and workshop for a Family Living course. Students learned how to clean, cook, shop for groceries, and run an efficient household. Later it was used as a language house where students and advisors spoke French or Spanish. For a few years it was used a guest house for College visitors, and in 1979 it housed adult students enrolled in the new Gateway Program. In 1985 the gatehouse and Benedum mansion were sold to Greystone Associates, Inc. On the brink of demolition, the College bought the house in 2000 and began restoration of the historic structure, blending its original structure with new environmentally safe materials. In 2003, the newly restored Gateway House was dedicated. It is now the headquarters of the Chatham Arboretum, a guesthouse, and conference space.
  • Place of Publication
  • College Campus
  • Type
  • still image
  • Genre
  • photographs
  • Subject
  • Pittsburgh, (Pa.)
    Shadyside (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    Women college students--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh
    Chatham College
    Howe, Thomas Marshall, 1808-1877
    Architecture--Conservation and restoration
    College buildings--Pennsylvania
  • Geographic Subjects
  • College Campus
  • Source
  • Chatham University Chronological Photograph Files
  • Contributor
  • Chatham University
  • Collection
  • Chatham University Chronological Photograph Files
  • Rights Information
  • Copyright Not Evaluated. The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.
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