If an ornate Gilded Age mansion can be called “cozy”, Clayton is that. I might also call it “cute” and “comfortable”. Clayton is a sparkling example of a fully decked-out, designer’s dream mansion that at the same time feels like a real home.If you like material culture, design, or just seeing lots of cool old stuff, then Clayton should be on your must-see list (and shame on you for not getting there yet!). Tours of Clayton are only $12 and… get this …the Frick Art Gallery, Car and Carriage Museum, and grounds are all FREE!
More about this in Part 2, but really, if you live in the Squirrel Hill/Point Breeze/Regent Square area get yourself over there for an hour or two. It’s a great resource right on the edge of Frick Park and a perfect part of a day out on the East End. You can include lunch at the Café at Frick, or follow it up with a nice hike through Homewood Cemetery and a meal at Pointe Brugge (belgian beer and mussels, yum!).
But back to Clayton, this was the home of Henry Clay Frick, his wife Adelaide and four children, of whom only two survived. The Frick family lived at Clayton from 1882-1905 before moving to a much larger mansion in New York City. The home stayed in the family through Helen Clay Frick who obviously loved the house and thoughtfully preserved it and planned to have it opened to the public upon her death in 1984. After renovations, Clayton was opened for tours in 1990.
The great thing about touring Clayton is that with just a single owner over the last 100 years, and an owner who was dedicated to preserving it, 90% of the house is still as it was when the Frick’s bought and remodeled it in the 1890s. The wallpapers, the fixtures, the ceilings, the furniture – it’s like stepping back into that time and that family.
They do recommend you call in advance to sign up for a daily tour of Clayton. When you visit, the tours meet in the Visitor Center/Playhouse where you’ll check in and have an introduction by your docent prior to walking over to Clayton.
The downstairs, public rooms in Clayton are magnificently furnished and beautiful to walk through. My favorite rooms, however, were definitely the private rooms on the second floor. Mrs. Frick’s red boudoir is something to behold, as is Mr. Frick’s elaborate bathroom, but my favorite room was the “family room”. This was really their sitting room and study located just off from the family bedrooms. I could absolutely spend an entire afternoon in that space. You are just cocooned in wall paneling and can lounge on comfortably upholstered chaises, reading books or playing games while mom or dad works at their desk nearby.
I completely understand why Helen loved this house just as it was and wanted to continue to return there and preserve it. It is a like a memory of your house growing up, before you’ve moved out and they’ve turned your room into a “exercise den” and thrown away half your stuff (“oh, I didn’t think you still wanted that, dear…”).
As compared to visiting similar Gilded-Age mansions in Newport, RI, you get a much smaller house here and a different setting; but at Clayton you really see how the house lived. At other mansions the materials have mostly not been kept with the house, and what is displayed is really the public house, not the private/family house. Clayton is a treasure and a must-see.
Tours are $12 for adults, but Tuesdays are 2-for-1 days. The rest of the grounds, the greenhouse, the Car and Carriage Museum, and the Frick Art Gallery are all FREE. Parking at the Frick is fairly ample and also free.
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