Heathside Cottage Open House: Autumn Harvest

Heathside Cottage is a National Historic Landmark in Pittsburgh's small hilltop neighborhood of Fineview. While its early Gothic architecture has been curiosity in the community for decades, we are hoping to bring the home back to life in grand fashion with a Victorian Open House on Saturday, October 10th.

With High Tea, English Country Dancing, Storytelling around a fire, Piano recitals, and more, we will endeavor to build a bygone era, and reveal one of our city's hidden gems. In partnership with the Fineview Citizen's Council, The Pittsburgh Fringe Festival, The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, and people like you, Heathside can become a seasonal venue for cultural events and feed the growing artistic vibrancy of Pittsburgh's Northside. 

With a Production & Technical Manager, Outreach & Publicity Coordinator, and Artistic Director we will divide responsibilities of:

1) Preparing the Home

2) Securing Producing Partners

3) Hiring Artists & Caterers

3) Hiring Volunteers

4) Publicizing the event

5) Fundraising

6) Documenting

We will initially meet weekly and then semi-weekly until load in. We anticipate load in to take 5 days, so there will be a load in volunteer group to speed the process.

Fineview is a largely forgotten hilltop in the Northside, declining 75% in population since 1950.  Many of my neighbors are life-long Pittsburgh residents, and most fondly remember a time when families filled the houses and kids played in the streets.  As the new owner of Heathside Cottage, I'm eager to make my home and neighborhood more attractive to the large influx of young professionals (like me) buying their first homes in Pittsburgh.  I'm also eager for stories and guidance from the elders in the community.  With so much rapid change in this city, I want to be an agent of responsible growth.

The cottage has a naturally theatrical quality, and with my background in the arts, I can't help but imagine its most wondrous possibilities.  I've already hosted concerts and personal guests, but it takes a much larger effort to turn my private home into a sustainable, cultural, hotspot.  That requires safety measures, publicity, outreach, and a team for supporting artists.  With a successful kickoff event, we'll be sure to get the jumpstart we need to put Heathside Cottage (and Fineview) back on the map.   For this, our Autumnal Open House, we harken back to Pittsburgh's rich history and re-imagine it through some fascinating sub-cultures.  We'll use the house to tie our future to our past.