The Historic Clayton Mansion and Scenic Gardens and Greenhouse at The Frick

The Clayton House was the family home of Henry Frick from 1882-1905. Defined as a Gilded Age Mansion, the house is now a Historical Landmark located on the 5.5-acre plot of land that also hosts a greenhouse, café, garden estate, the Frick Art and Car and Carriage museums.

The Frick site is lined with lush gardens and a diverse selection of trees. There is also an active greenhouse that is a renovation and partial reconstruction of one that served the Frick family from 1897 until the 1970’s. The Greenhouse hosts an astounding variety of plant species as well as an art installation.

The Frick houses an impressive 60 varieties of trees growing around the site, with an outdoor pathway leading to different areas of the site. Tree species such as Saucer Magnolias, Horse Chestnut, and Weeping Willows, and more can be found around the site with varying levels of maturity. The Great Lawn of the Clayton is beautifully landscaped with gardens and trees.

The meticulously restored 22-room mansion features an impressive array of fine and decorative art objects purchased by the Fricks. Docent-led tours of the home provide an inside view of daily life at the turn of the 20th century and a better understanding of Pittsburgh during the Gilded Age.

The Frick family moved to New York in 1905 and left much of their Pittsburgh life behind. An astonishing 93% of the artifacts in the house are original, making Clayton something of a museum in itself. A highchair sits in the breakfast room, children’s toys and books are in the nursery and library, and a sink and clothes rack built to a child’s scale are nestled in an alcove outside the kitchen.

Clayton was opened to the public in 1990 after a four-year restoration.