Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

How a 1902 Tudor Revival House Got a Warm, Modern Update

How a 1902 Tudor Revival House Got a Warm, Modern Update

Designer Janine Carendi MacMurray melded history with the present day for a young family in Pittsburgh.

Outside of the Pittsburgh area, Squirrel Hill is better known as Mr. Rogers’s neighborhood. The beloved children’s-television personality lived on leafy, broad Beechwood Boulevard. For architecture buffs, however, the neighborhood’s chief interest lies farther west on a private street running through a forested oasis in Pittsburgh’s East End.



The road conceals a wealth of adventurous and architecturally significant homes, from Andrew Mellon’s redbrick Tudor mansion (landscaped by the Olmsted Brothers) to modernist houses by Walter Gropius and Richard Meier to a postmodern folly by Robert Venturi.

            

For a prosperous young family seeking to reconnect with their deep Pittsburgh roots after years spent away from the city, this street felt like the perfect landing pad. Yet the five-​bedroom Tudor Revival house they bought on the southern end of the street in 2016, while steeped in the city’s history, did not exactly suit the needs of a modern family. Built by the architects Vrydaugh and​ Wolfe in 1902 for an attorney and styled like a robber baron’s idea of a medieval hunting lodge, the place reeked of musty books and riding boots. The challenge of showcasing the house’s heritage while softening its edges fell to the New York City–based designer

            

The theme of her design was “coming home.” The clients wanted the house to feel sophisticated, light, and contemporary while honoring the family’s history. “In every room, we tried to incorporate pieces from the couple’s respective families-many of which had been passed down for generations,” MacMurray says. She also strived to preserve what was authentically Pittsburgh about the house: exposing original walnut beams in the entryway, sourcing local stone for the kitchen countertops, and respecting elements that spoke to the city’s industrial history-even if they weren’t the most practical things. “On the second floor, there is this fabulous linen closet with tiny doors from floor to ceiling,” says MacMurray. “This is where the white linens were kept so they wouldn’t be covered in coal dust” from nearby factories in the early 20th century.

In other respects, MacMurray was free to play, mixing midcentury light fixtures, 17th-century English furniture, and swinging ’60s rugs. She also drew from the family’s enviable collection of heirlooms and antiquities.

                    

In the dining room, a 19th-century English mahogany table anchors the space; the Gracie wallpaper alludes to the boats traveling down the Alle­gheny and Monongahela rivers. At the head of the table is a John Singer Sargent portrait of a family ancestor. A Jean-Boris Lacroix light fixture gives the space a warm Deco glow, and graphic blue throw pillows click in a surprising way with the Delft and Chinese porcelain on display.

                    

While a room such as this feels richly layered, others, like the kitchen, are starkly elegant. A vintage checkerboard pattern lends a graphic, modern quality to the floor. Working with the architect Liza Cruze, MacMurray sketched a pot rack and hood over the stove that elongates the space. The austerity of the kitchen is contrasted by a bright breakfast nook, with a miniature velvety sofa fit for the kids.



Designing for children is a passion for MacMurray, as evidenced by the top-floor playroom she created. The room’s most prominent feature was a slanted wall. Rather than ignoring that odd angle, MacMurray leaned into it-blowing up the scale of a wallpaper pattern from the Swedish company Rebel Walls and arranging it so it took on a three-dimensional quality.

The family room posed the biggest challenge in the home, and as such, it is the area of which MacMurray is the proudest. Originally a covered portico with a hulking stone hearth, the space was turned into a sunroom with windows in the 1940s and then weatherized by previous owners, who made the dubious choice of installing a massive television over the fireplace. MacMurray designed custom bookshelves on the opposite end of the room to discreetly house the TV. A pair of “mirror-image” chaises allow for both fireside lounging and movie watching.

Take a Tour of This Gloriously Restored Tudor Revival Home



Family Room


In the family room of a Pittsburgh Tudor Revival house designed by Janine Carendi MacMurray, the custom sofas are in a Schumacher fabric, and a 19th-century Chinese rattan bed is used as a cocktail table. The room also features a 19th-century English leather armchair, a 17th-century iron chandelier, an antique Heriz rug, and an artwork by Robert Indiana.



As a final flourish for the room, MacMurray suggested a Robert Indiana painting from the client’s art collection, which they had struggled to find a home for. It was too loud for the dining room, too big for the entry, too bright for the bedroom. Not only did it fit perfectly over the fireplace, the pattern reflected the geometries of the original architecture, the gridded metal windows, and the dark wood beams. Here and throughout the home, an unexpected splash of the new dynamizes the old, while the old lends the new a deepened sense of place.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×