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| Women play cards in Chatham Village, 1932 |
Pittsburgh history buffs will love the new book published about Mt Washington's Chatham Village. "Chatham Village: Pittsburgh's Garden City" has a paper jacket which feels almost like suede, giving the cover photographs extra depth. The book's design, by Kachergis Book Design of Pittsboro, N.C., is enjoyable, too, with wide margins and an abundance of photographs, drawings and plans.
Author Angelique Bamberg was the city's preservation planner from December 1998 to 2006 and it was her job to inform and guide commission members in their decision-making. A native of Germany who grew up in the American South, she first came to Pittsburgh earlier in 1998 as a Cornell University graduate student researching her master's thesis on Chatham Village, out of which this book has grown. It's the first book-length treatment of the subject, and Ms. Bamberg has detailed its design and establishing how and why the community is significant, the role it played in the history of planned developments and why it was both a smashing success and a disappointing failure.
Chatham Village, while widely known in planning circles, is one of Pittsburgh's best-kept secrets. The community was built in two phases on 45 acres on a Mount Washington hilltop -- the former Thomas Bigham estate -- between 1931 and 1936. It was a demonstration project of the Buhl Foundation, which wanted to show that quality, affordable housing could be built for middle-class families at a profit by the private sector. It also wanted to demonstrate that Pittsburgh's hilly terrain could be developed economically and beautifully. At Chatham Village, 197 terraced red-brick row houses surround village greens, gardens and paths, all stepping down the sloping site.
Author Angelique Bamberg was the city's preservation planner from December 1998 to 2006 and it was her job to inform and guide commission members in their decision-making. A native of Germany who grew up in the American South, she first came to Pittsburgh earlier in 1998 as a Cornell University graduate student researching her master's thesis on Chatham Village, out of which this book has grown. It's the first book-length treatment of the subject, and Ms. Bamberg has detailed its design and establishing how and why the community is significant, the role it played in the history of planned developments and why it was both a smashing success and a disappointing failure.
Chatham Village, while widely known in planning circles, is one of Pittsburgh's best-kept secrets. The community was built in two phases on 45 acres on a Mount Washington hilltop -- the former Thomas Bigham estate -- between 1931 and 1936. It was a demonstration project of the Buhl Foundation, which wanted to show that quality, affordable housing could be built for middle-class families at a profit by the private sector. It also wanted to demonstrate that Pittsburgh's hilly terrain could be developed economically and beautifully. At Chatham Village, 197 terraced red-brick row houses surround village greens, gardens and paths, all stepping down the sloping site.
