Schenley Quadrangle

Schenley Quadrangle
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Pittsburgh Landmark — PHLF
Schenley Quadrangle as seen from Forbes Avenue
Location	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Coordinates
Area	Schenley Farms Historic District
Built	June 3, 1922-1924
Architect	Henry Hornbostel with collaboration from Rutan & Russell and Eric Fisher Wood
Part of	Schenley Farms Historic District (#83002213)
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	July 22, 1983
Designated PHLF	1972

A view of the Schenley Quadrangle colonnade along McCormick Hall. Holland Hall can be seen towards the back.

Schenley Quadrangle is a cluster of University of Pittsburgh residence halls that is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark and are contributing properties to the Schenley Farms National Historic District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.

The five residence halls are the former historic Schenley Apartments, designed by Henry Hornbostel, with collaboration from Rutan & Russell and Eric Fisher Wood, for developer Franklin Nicola and were built between 1922 and 1924 at a cost of more than $4.5 million ($62.5 million in 2024 dollars). Originally, the Schenley Apartments were home of Pittsburgh's well-to-do, including for a time its architect Henry Hornbostel, and consisted of 1,113 rooms in 238 apartments throughout the five buildings. The University acquired them in December 1955 at a cost of $3 million ($26.5 million in 2024 dollars), and renovated them into residence halls for another $1 million ($8.7 million in 2024 dollars). By 1957-1958 101 female students had moved into 20 apartments in Building F (now called Brackenridge Hall).

Schenley Quadrangle consists of five residence halls: Amos Hall, Brackenridge Hall, Bruce Hall, Holland Hall, and McCormick Hall.

Schenley Quadrangle, as seen from its Fifth Avenue entrance. McCormick Hall is on the left, and the south wing of Holland Hall is on the right.

Amos Hall

Amos Hall houses nine sororities, each floor houses a separate sorority. There are 152 upperclass women residents living in sorority suites which feature a kitchen, bathrooms, living room, and chapter room. Laundry facilities are in the penthouse. In November 2008, Pitt approved a $9.1 million renovation of Amos Hall which included air conditioning, updated energy-efficient electrical and water systems, and new bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens that were redesigned to be compatible with the pre-existing architectural structure. Completed and reopened for the 2009 fall term, the input of each sorority gave every floor its own style.

The Oakland Bakery and Market occupies space on the street level of the building, which had previously been occupied by a fitness center, and prior to that, a bank.

The building is named for the University's dean of women from 1919 to 1941, Thrysa W. Amos.

Brackenridge Hall

Brackenridge Hall houses 210 mostly upperclass men and women in four- and five-person suites. Each suite features a MicroFridge and a private bathroom. There are also a few single and double rooms that do not include a MicroFridge. Laundry facilities are located in the penthouse. Brackenridge Hall also features a fitness center, which moved from Amos Hall in 2013, that is available to all residents of Schenley Quadrangle.

The Honors College established Brackenridge Hall as an honors dormitory in Fall 2012.

The Pitt Shop, a University owned store selling University of Pittsburgh branded clothing and merchandise, is on the street level of the building.

The building is named for the founder of the University, Hugh Henry Brackenridge.

Bruce Hall

Detail of the scalloped cornice on Bruce Hall, one of the Schenley Quadrangle residences at the University of Pittsburgh

Bruce Hall houses 212 men and women, primarily freshman, in four- and six-person suites. Starting in 2014-2015, Bruce Hall will be home to the freshman College of Business Administration Living Learning Community. The building is named for the first chancellor after the University was renamed from the Pittsburgh Academy to the Western University of Pennsylvania, Robert Bruce. Bruce Hall served as a university office building until those offices were moved into Posvar Hall thereby allowing Bruce Hall to be converted into housing suites beginning in 1978.

Basement and First Floor

The basement and first floor of Bruce Hall are actually on the street level with Forbes Avenue, and are rented out to The UPS Store and 7 Eleven.

Second Floor

The second floor is the main entrance for residents, as well as the location of the University of Pittsburgh Residence Life offices.

Third Floor

The third floor houses the sorority Theta Phi Alpha.

Fourth through Eleventh Floors

The fourth through eleventh floors are entirely student suites. Each floor has 6 suites, 5 4-person suites and 1 six-person suite with laundry facilities on each floor. The 6-person suites on the upper floors have an exceptional view of the Cathedral of Learning, Schenley Plaza, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History out of the common room's windows.

Twelfth Floor

The twelfth floor is home to the University's catering service, as well as a meeting room in suite 1201 reserved for activities held by the President or Vice President of the University. It was usually impossible to get to the twelfth floor without an elevator key, although recently access to the twelfth floor has not been as restrictive as in the past.

A five bedroom, four-bath suite on the twelfth floor of Bruce Hall also once served as the University's chancellor residence.

The Ghost of 1201 Bruce Hall

Many students and university employees, as well as various outside sources, believe that a ghost or two haunts the 1201 suite of Bruce. The owner of the Schenley Apartments once lived with his family on the twelfth floor. Rumor has it that his mistress and/or wife committed suicide in the 1201 by either hanging herself or throwing herself out the window. Students and staff have reported hearing footsteps in the stairwells and the halls, as well as a woman's voice, while some have reported poltergiest-like activity. Others have heard stories of the elevators not stopping on their floor, and continuing up to the twelfth floor and refusing to go back down. Traditionally referred to as "Harriet," the ghost, for which Pitt staff have even hung Christmas stockings for, has only been known to visit the 12th floor, the 11th floor, and suite 8B on the 8th floor, where she is said to have lived.

Holland Hall

Schenley Quadrangle at the University of Pittsburgh as viewed from the Fifth Avenue side of the William Pitt Union (column in left foreground). Holland Hall is directly ahead, McCormick Hall is to the left, and Amos Hall is to the right. The top of Litchfield Tower B can be seen behind Holland Hall.

Holland Hall is divided into two wings, North and South, and houses 600 upperclass and first-year women in single, double, triple, and quad accommodations. There is a kitchenette on each floor as well as communal bathrooms and showers. The penthouse features a lounge, study area, and laundry facilities. It originally served as a men's dormatory.

Since January, 1960, the University Store, the primary book store for the university, has been located on the ground floor of Holland Hall, accessible from either the Schenley Quadrangle or from Fifth Avenue. At the time of its opening, it was hailed as the largest college bookstore in the nation. The store completed a $9.43 million renovation that included insertion of a skylight, a café, a technology area, an Espresso Book Machine, and various reading nooks, as well as the creation of a new entrance on the Forbes Avenue side of Holland Hall.

Holland Hall is named after University Chancellor William Jacob Holland, who led the University from 1891 to 1901 when it was known as the Western University of Pennsylvania.

McCormick Hall

McCormick Hall houses 132 mostly upperclass men and women in two-, three-, five-, and seven-person suites. Each suite features a kitchenette with refrigerator and one or more private bathrooms. Laundry facilities are available in the penthouse. Adjoining McCormick Hall is the William Pitt Union.

McCormick Hall is named after Samuel B. McCormick who served as University Chancellor from 1904-1921 during which time the University moved from Pittsburgh's North Side to its current location in Oakland and also changed its name from the Western University of Pennsylvania to the University of Pittsburgh.

Namesakes

When still the Schenley Apartments, the buildings were simply named "A", "B", "C", "D", and "F". After their acquisition by the university for student residences, they were eventually renamed for important figures in the university's history.

• 

  Thyrsa Amos
  Dean of Women
  1919-1941
• Hugh Henry Brackenridge.jpg

  Hugh Henry Brackenridge
  University founder
  1787
• 

  Robert Bruce
  Chancellor
  1819–1835; 1836–1843
• 

  William Jacob Holland
  Chancellor
  1891–1901
• McCormickPitt.jpg

  Samuel McCormick
  Chancellor
  1904–1921

References

The Pitt Shop on the street level of Brackenridge Hall

Schenley Quad as viewed from Hillman Library. Viewed from left to right is Litchfield Tower A and Brackenridge, Bruce, McCormick, and Amos Halls

External links

• Schenley Quadrangle on Pitt's virtual Campus Tour
• Amos Hall at Pitt Housing Services
• Brackenridge Hall at Pitt Housing Services
• Bruce Hall at Pitt Housing Services
• Holland Hall at Pitt Housing Services
• McCormick Hall at Pitt Housing Services

Preceded by University Club

University of Pittsburgh Buildings Schenley Quadrangle Constructed: 1922-1924

Succeeded by Thackeray Hall