Help save history in your community by restoring and reusing historic buildings.

“I hope my children and grandchildren will be able to see this building on East Carson Street because it's very pretty.” —student quote

1711 East Carson Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203

Date and Style

Built in the 1880s

—Victorian (Italianate) style

Erected during the reign of Queen Victoria of England (1837-1901), this Victorian Italianate building is based on the style of Italian Renaissance villas. Notice the projecting eave, or overhanging roof edge, with paired brackets, and the slightly arched window openings decorated with fancy cast-iron window hoods. Also notice the star “anchor” plates that are connected to metal rods that go through the floor boards to help hold the brick walls upright.

Facade improvements funded through the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Streetface Program

Facts and Stories Worth Knowing

• In 1890 Gustav Wilde established a bakery in the oldest part of the building, and a bakery continued to be housed in the building for the next 100 years(see the advertisement). Gustav's son continued the family bakery but then sold the building in 1963 to Adrian Munsch for $25,000. According to a newspaper article in the Pittsburgh Press (March 8, 1992), the “precious family recipes were thrown in for free.”
• The Munsches sold 1711 East Carson Street and all the bakery equipment to Helen and Lisa Fusca in 1988 for $125,000, who operated a specialty bakery.
• Artist Adelaide La Fond purchased the building in 1990 for $120,000, and totally redesigned the interior and restored the exterior.

• La Fond Gallery opened on Carson Street in 1991. Artist Adelaide La Fond lives in the building and has her studio and art gallery there too.
• Many famous athletes, artists, and business people visit the gallery--and Adelaide La Fond has become particularly famous for her paintings of South Side scenes (see one of her paintings below).

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