Frederick Osterling

Frederick Osterling, from Prominent Pennsylvanians, 1913

Arrott Building

Frederick Osterling was one of our most versatile and imaginative architects. He worked in many different styles, but there is a certain tasteful flamboyance in everything he has left us that marks it as Osterling’s work. Earlier in his career, he could produce a Richardsonian Romanesque that could out-Richardson Richardson; but he could also work in Gothic, classical, Flemish, or any other style you liked.

Times Building

Union Trust Building

Osterling was one of Henry Clay Frick’s favorite architects, and he designed the complete remodeling of Frick’s home Clayton. Later, Frick turned against him, and Frick was the sort who insisted on completely ruining his adversaries. Osterling’s large commissions downtown ceased. On the other hand, it seems he didn’t really need to work: when he died in 1934, Osterling left an estate valued at a million dollars, which was a good bit of money in those days.

The Iroquois

An incomplete list of his works:

Allegheny County Morgue, 542 Fourth Avenue, 1901
Allegheny High School, Allegheny Center, 810 Arch Street, 1904
Amstrong Cork Co. factory, Strip, 2349 Railroad Street, 1901/1913
Arrott Building, Downtown, Fourth Avenue and Wood Street, 1902
Bell Telephone Building, Seventh Avenue and Montour Way, 1890
Bellefield Presbyterian Church, Oakland, Fifth Avenue and Dithridge Street, 1889 (demolished except for the tower)
Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls, Beaver Falls, 1301 Seventh Avenue, 1899
Charles Schwab House, North Braddock, 541 Jones Avenue, 1893
Chautauqua Lake Ice Company (Heinz History Center), Strip, 1212 Smallman Street, 1898
Clayton remodeling, Point Breeze, 7200 Penn Avenue, 1870s
Colonial Trust Company, Fourth Avenue and Wood Street, 1902
Commonwealth Trust Building, 316 Fourth Avenue, 1906
First Methodist Church (Korean Central Church of Pittsburgh), Shadyside, 821 South Aiken Avenue, 1893
Hillsdale School, Dormont, Hillsdale Avenue, 1912
Houses at 3603–3607 California Avenue, Brighton Heights
Iroquois Building, Oakland, 3600-3620 Forbes Avenue, 1901–1903
James H. Hammond House (Clyde House), Shadyside, 624 Clyde Street, before 1904
Marine Bank Building, Smithfield Street and Third Avenue
Negley-Gwinner-Harter House renovations, Shadyside, Fifth Avenue and Amberson Avenue
Osterling architectural studio, North Shore, 228 Isabella Street, 1910s
Times Building, Downtown, Fourth Avenue and Third Avenue
Union Trust Building, Downtown, Grant Street and Fifth Avenue, 1917
Vanadium Building (Parkvale Building), Oakland, Forbes Avenue and Meyran Avenue, 1911
Washington County Courthouse, 1900
Washington County Jail, 1900
Washington Trust Building, Washington (Pa.), 6 South Main Street, 1902–1903
Westinghouse Air Brake Company Administrative Building (The Castle), Wilmerding, 1890

For a longer list, see Father Pitt’s Great Big List of Buildings and Architects, which is kept up to date with old Pa Pitt’s latest research.

James H. Hammond House

Osterling is buried with his parents and his unmarried sister in the Rosedale Cemetery in Ross Township.