The Terraced Garden

The Terraced Garden, on the slope above Beechwood Boulevard, was installed by the RK Mellon family in 1910 and was once the showcase for the front entrance of their estate.

When the mansion was torn down in the 1940s, the Terraced Garden was meant to be carefully preserved as a rose garden. Unfortunately, despite the substantial efforts of the Garden Club of Allegheny County and the Richard King Mellon Foundation in the 1980s, the Terraced Garden has been deteriorating for many years. The walls are cracked, the balustrades are tumbling over, and the stairways are broken.

Because of your generous donations, Friends of Mellon Park was able to partner with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (PPC) to commission an engineering study that was completed in mid-2024. The PPC and LaQuatra Bonci Associates held a public meeting at the Terraced Garden in the summer of 2024, and the preliminary design concepts were well received by those who attended.

The Mellon Park Terraced Garden Analysis and Recommendations report concluded that much of the Terraced Garden is structurally sound but in need of substantial restoration and redesign. The recommendations include preliminary design concepts for the site. Completion of this study was the first step in saving the Terraced Garden. Without it, neither the City nor any funding organization will begin to address the serious needs of the garden.

We are currently partnering with the same organizations to develop more detailed plans to complete the design development stage so the public process can begin. That will lead to completion of the construction document phase and to obtaining permits for the project.

Further Reading

You can review the Terraced Garden Historic Evaluation here.

You can view the Terraced Garden Analysis and Recommendations here.