447 Dawson Avenue

The brick Foursquare home owned by Tom and Mary Vic Taylor has been their home for 35 years. It had been converted into 3 apartments in the 1960s and over time Mary Vic and Tom have made updates and created a cozy home for their children, grandson Will, foreign exchange students, family, and friends to gather — it’s a busy place! Mary Vic’s favorite thing is the new kitchen which was renovated last year. As you leave through the kitchen door take time to enjoy the backyard gardens cloaked in fall colors. The house was built between 1899 and 1902 by Leonard and Dora B. Albrecht. At that time the street address was 19 Dawson Avenue. After passing to several owners, the property was conveyed to Harry E. and Maria L. McClumpha in 1916. The McClumphas would own the property until 1949. Harry E. McClumpha was a metallurgist of some renown and from 1906 to 1930 was general manager of the Keystone Car Wheel Company and its successor the Southern Wheel Company. According to his obituary, “he originated the modern continuous method of casting wheels on moveable platforms accurately timed for the heat treatment cycle.” After Harry's death in 1939, Louisa stayed on at 447 Dawson for another decade and began to take in boarders. In October 1939 she advertised a room for rent at 447 Dawson, “suitable for 1-2 gentlemen.” In May 1949 the propertey was conveyed to the Carson family — they would own it until 1965. Thomas E. Carson began his career as an inspector at the Hermes Milk Company and later was sales manager for the Pittsburgh Milk Company. He married Margaret Wills and the couple had two sons. After the 26home passed to the Carson sons, a rapid turnover in ownership began that lasted from the 1960s through the 1980s, contrasting with the stability of the property’s first 60 years. In March 1967 the house was purchased to be used as a rental property. This may have been when the house was converted into three apartments and other interior changes were made as noted by the present owners. Ownership stability returned in May 1983 when the property was acquired by Thomas F. and Mary Victoria Taylor and Mary’s parents, Donald J. and Patricia L. Plazek. In 1991 the Plazeks conveyed their interest to Tom and Mary Vic who are the current owners. The Taylor home is an excellent example of one of the early 20th century’s most popular residential building forms, the American Foursquare, ubiquitous throughout Bellevue, Avalon, and Brighton Heights. Foursquare is a house form rather than a style, and different styles of stylistic ornamentation could be (and were) applied to houses of this type. Most local examples display Craftsman, Colonial Revival, Prairie, and Queen Anne decorative elements, often mixed together in the same structure. The Foursquare was descended from vernacular Classical Revival forms of the mid-19th century, and since the simple form was ideally suited to mass-production, it was a popular mail-order offering of the 19001930 period. The hallmarks of the Foursquare are its cube-like shape and interior plan of four rooms per floor plus a side stairway. It was ideally suited to the typical long and narrow house lot found in streetcar suburbs during the 1900-1930 period. Nearly all examples feature a pyramidal roof with one or more dormers, and a full-width or half-width porch across the facade. According to historian Alan Gowans, “despite commonly having only three instead of four columns across the front, asymmetrical placement of porches, irregular fenestration (window arrangement), and side bay windows breaking up boxy outlines, the fundamental visual effect is balanced and symmetrical.” Despite their inherent similarity of form, Foursquare houses exhibit an almost infinite variety of wall treatments, porch designs, and fenestration. The Taylor home exhibits a number of interesting details including the paired columns of the full-width front porch; the ornamental brickwork at the roof/wall junction; the massive window lintels; the fine leaded glass sidelights and transom surrounding the entry; the triple window in the second-floor facade; the large arched window that dominates the west elevation, although the original leaded glass has been removed; and the one-story bay in the east elevation.