Places Around Pittsburgh: He Did It Himself

The Eclectic period, from 1900 to 1940 say, witnessed a good bit of excess, not surprisingly since architecture as a whole was pretty histrionic. One has the impression, looking back, that architects, clients, and developers egged each other on and that the sense of the ridiculous quietly faded away, especially toward the end. Hyeholde, built in Moon Township between 1931 and 1938, was an Olde Worlde fantasy of a type familiar from 1925 on, but different from most in that the restaurateur William Kryskill, designed it himself. The fake half-timber, the crazy brickwork, the ravaged slating of the steep roofs, all tell of naïve peasant work that the elements have assaulted: ergo, it seems to be thoroughly professional work as it might be done by an Eclectic architect. But the stove, rather than the drawing board, was the place where William Kryskill practiced his true art.

—Walter C. Kidney