Friends of Mellon Park

This brief description of the historic design of Mellon Park was written by Patricia O’Donnell of Heritage Landscapes.

She was the primary author of the Mellon Park Master Plan and consulted on the restoration of the Walled Garden. She is a nationally known landscape historian and her firm has been involved in countless projects in other parks in Pittsburgh and around the world.

Olmsted Brothers work on the property began with Percival Gallagher’s site October 18, 1919 and included recommendations for several areas. Returning in the early 1930s, they advised on several areas and provided a design for the area along Beechwood Boulevard, that is no longer extant, but possible to restore based on Olmsted firm documentation. Our 2000 report states:

Despite the transition of the site from a private residence to a public park, the areas planned and planted by the Olmsted firm are still available for recovery of the 1931 Olmsted designs. Such restoration would increase the variety of the landscape and expand the experience of park users. It would also be significant as one of a very few complete and accurate restorations of a space designed by the Olmsted firm.

The Vitale and Geiffert, Landscape Architects, designed walled garden or Renaissance Garden. It is cited in our report as designed in 1929 and described as:

The issue of Country Life for December, 1934, carried an article, "Renaissance Garden," which gave an illustrated account of the walled garden on the estate of R.B. Mellon in Pittsburgh. This rigorously formal arrangement of walls, broad walks, lawn tapis, and lush perennial borders replaced the garden of approximately horseshoe shape that appears to the west of the house in the surveyors' plan of 1912. The magazine account credits the firm of Vitale and Geiffert working in collaboration with Gilmore D. Clarke for the garden's design, while Edmond Amateis is named as the sculptor of the three bronze figures that were included in the scheme, and Samuel Yellin is credited with the fine wrought iron grills and gates. . . The built arrangement of fountain (designed by Amateis), fountain pool, and terrace was preferred over the construction of a large garden shelter. . . The photographs taken in the full summer of 1935 preserve the image of an exceptionally lush, densely planted garden . . .

The Mellon family gift of this former family estate to the City for use as a park included conditions that through roads were prohibited from being introduced in the park and required the commitment of the City to maintain the grounds in the same condition that they had enjoyed during the private ownership of the place. On June 28, 1943, the City acquired the property and the statement of indenture includes among the conditions and restrictions of the transfer of title the following stipulation, "...the present landscaping of the said property shall be maintained in so far and as long as reasonably possible and consistent with the proper use of said property.”

For more history, read the Mellon Park Master Plan authored by Patricia O’Donnell in 2000.

Learn more about Patricia O’Donnell and Heritage Landscapes. http://www.heritagelandscapes.com/