The Bryn Athyn Historic District is a

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

encompassing an important collection of Arts and Crafts movement architecture in

Bryn Athyn Bryn Athyn is a home rule municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was formerly a borough, and its official name remains "Borough of Bryn Athyn". The population was 1,375 at the 2010 census. It was formed for religious reasons fro ...

, Montgomery County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Designated in 2008, it includes three residential properties associated with the Pitcairn family who supported the movement, as well as

Bryn Athyn Cathedral Bryn Athyn Cathedral is the episcopal seat of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, a denomination of Swedenborgianism. The main building is of the Early Gothic style, while the adjoining structures are of a transitional period reflective of ...

, all built by craftsmen employed by the Pitcairns. The district properties are located in the center of Bryn Athyn, on the west side of Huntington Pike (

Pennsylvania Route 232 Pennsylvania Route 232 (PA 232) is a state highway located in southeastern Pennsylvania. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 1 in Pennsylvania, U.S. Route 1 (US 1)/U.S. Route 13 in Pennsylvania, US 13 at t ...

), and is roughly bisected by Cathedral Road. On its north side stand

Cairnwood Cairnwood is a historic home located adjacent to the Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was designed by the architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings and built in 1895. The surrounding grounds were designed by ...

and the

Glencairn Museum Glencairn is a castle-like mansion in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, that was home to the Pitcairn family for more than 40 years. Now the Glencairn Museum, it contains a collection of about 8,000 artworks, mostly religious in nature, from cultures s ...

, both built as homes of the Pitcairns, and on its south are the

, the mother church of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and Cairncrest, another Pitcairn home that now houses church offices.

History

John Pitcairn Jr. John Pitcairn Jr. (January 10, 1841 – July 22, 1916) was a Scottish-born American industrialist. With just an elementary school education, Pitcairn rose through the ranks of the Pennsylvania railroad industry, and played a significant role ...

(1841-1916) was a Scottish-born businessman who built a large fortune through the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (now

PPG Industries PPG Industries, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 company and global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 70 countries around the globe. By revenue it is ...

), the first major manufacturer of plate glass. Pitcairn was of the

Swedenborgian The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) is any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed as a new religious group, influenced by the writings of scientist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). Swedenborgian or ...

faith and in the late 1880s sought to establish a major educational and religious center for The New Church. To that end he purchased in then-rural Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, north of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He retained the renowned

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

firm of

Carrère and Hastings Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (architect), Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was one of the outstanding American Beaux-Arts architecture, Be ...

to design his estate, called

. Completed in 1895, it is a major residential work in the Beaux Arts style, some of whose principles would inform later work of the Pitcairns. Pitcairn also retained Charles Eliot to landscape and plan the acreage for the family and the adjacent religious institutions. Beginning in 1897, Pitcairn was at the forefront of a schism in The New Church, the outcome of which was the founding of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, a more conservative institution still based on Swedenborgian teachings that continues to be headquartered in Bryn Athyn. The

, its centerpiece, was built through the work of Pitcairn's son

Raymond Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

and

Ralph Adams Cram Ralph Adams Cram (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partner ...

. The creative workshops established by the Pitcairns for this effort also produced Raymond's house, Glencairn, next to Cairnwood, and Cairncrest, the home of Raymond's brother

Harold Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts a ...

. The design methods used in these workshops typified the Arts and Crafts movement, emphasizing a collaborative approach between architects and craftsmen, allowing the latter a more inspirational contribution to the final products. Ralph Adams Cram, who was eventually sidelined in the oversight of the cathedral's construction, wrote that "in its inception and its working out, it has been unique, not only in my own experience, but I believe in the architectural history of the last 400 years." File:CAIRNCREST, HAROLD F. PITCAIRN HOME.jpg, Cairncrest File:Glencairn Museum.jpg, Glencairn Museum File:Cairnwood Mansion.jpg, Cairnwood Mansion

References

External links

Bryn Athyn Historic District
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Historic districts in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

History

See also

References

External links