Discover the
House Exterior
THE HOUSE EXTERIOR
Walk the Grounds of Woodville
Like the mid-nineteenth century Gothic-revival treatments of the upper window, the current large frame porch that wrap two sides of the house is a product of nineteenth century domestic thinking in that it reflect an expansion of living and sleeping space into the outdoor during warmer weather. A porch set with two tables, a settee, and four chairs is mentioned in the estate inventory compiled after homeowner Christopher Cowan' death in 1835, but the current porch may be a later expansion or replacement of that one.
In the mid-1970s, the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation (PH&LF) purchased Woodville from its last private owners. Over the following decades, the PH&LF underwrote many urgent projects to preserve and physically upgrade Woodville, especially its porch, roof, and mechanical systems. This important preservation work assured the home's physical survival, but the formation of a core group of private volunteers also was needed to develop historical and educational programs and public interpretation of the site's history. This group, the Neville House Associates, Inc. (NHA), with valuable financial assistance from The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (NSCDA/PA).
1800
Window Treatments
Mid-nineteenth century gothic revival treatments of the half-story windows.
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century, mostly in England. Increasingly serious and learned admirers sought to revive medieval Gothic architecture, intending to complement or even supersede the neoclassical styles prevalent at the time. Gothic Revival draws upon features of medieval examples, including decorative patterns, finials, lancet windows, and hood moulds. By the middle of the 19th century, Gothic Revival had become the pre-eminent architectural style in the Western world, only to begin to fall out of fashion in the 1880s and early 1890s.
1800
Porch Ceiling Cut-away
Looking up, one sees an opening that has been cut in the porch roof to reveal an earlier generation of riven wooden "shakes" or shingles. These were captured or cut off when the porch roof was built over them, unintentionally forming this architectural "time capsule." Below the shingle is a well-executed and probably original crown molding that preserves faint traces of white paint or white wash, a rare example of refined architectural decoration on the exterior of this otherwise unpretentious country house.
1800
Haint Blue Porch Ceiling Paint
On the Porch ceiling you can see layers of paint, we used the Haint blue for the ceiling. Haint blue is a collection of pale shades of blue-green that are traditionally used to paint porch ceilings in the Southern United States. The pigment was derived from crushed indigo plants. Indigo was a common source for haint blue prior to the American Revolution, when indigo was a common crop for plantations in the American South, but the tradition survived well after the decline in indigo dye cultivation.
Originally, haint blue was thought by the Gullah to ward haints, or ghosts, away from the home. The tactic was intended either to mimic the appearance of the sky, tricking the ghost into passing through, or to mimic the appearance of water, which ghosts traditionally could not cross.
1785-1786
Log Construction
Discovered only in 2009 that this pantry area had been the site of an 1808/1809 log addition built on the northwest side of the 1785/1786 log kitchen. It appears that throughout much of Woodville's more than 200 years of private ownership, the log house and its adjoining pantry area continued to serve the same purposes-cooking and various food preparation and storage functions. The log floor joist that provided the basis for the dendrochronology dating of the log pantry to 1808/1809 is preserved for visitors to see beneath a thick glass covering in the pantry floor.
