Welcome to Clayton!

Clayton is the former of Henry Clay Frick, Pittsburgh industrialist in the late 19th century. He lived here with his wife Adelaide Childs Frick and his children, Childs and Helen until 1905 when the family moved to New York City.

Visiting Clayton:
To visit Clayton, you must attend a guided tour. It is recommended that you make a reservation for the tour you plan to attend, which you can do by calling 1-412-371-0600.

Pay for your tour in the Playhouse when you arrive on the Frick property. Below are the prices:
General admission: $12
Seniors and students: $10
Active duty military: $10
Children 16 and under: $6

Getting to Clayton from Carnegie Mellon University:
- Take the 67 or 69 OUTBOUND: get off at Penn Ave at Homewood (22 stops)
- Turn RIGHT on Homewood Ave and continue until you reach the traffic circle
- Turn LEFT on Reynolds St
- The Frick Art & Historical Center will be on your LEFT
- Walk through the parking lot to the back. You will check in at the Playhouse on your RIGHT for your tour

Allow extra time! Buses do not always run exactly on schedule. If you use Google Maps to find a route, choose a travel plan that allows you to arrive 15 minutes early.
Here is a tour of the route you will take to get to Clayton from Carnegie Mellon.

Preparing for Your Visit:
The tour of Clayton covers a lot of information about Henry Frick's family life, business life, and interest in art. Some words or topics may be more difficult to understand than others, so we've provided some key vocabulary words and questions to ask that will help enhance your visit.

Download printable vocabulary and questions, or view below:

Useful Vocabulary:

Henry Clay Frick's business life

  • Anarchy (n): society in which there is no government
  • Anarchist (n): someone who advocates for anarchy
  • Assassinate (v): kill suddenly, esp. politically prominent person; murder premeditatedly
  • Industrialist (n): someone who owns or manages an industrial company (dictionary.com)
  • Industrial (adj): relating to industry
  • Industry (n): manufacturing, business activity
  • Strike (n): stop of work as way to make employer give in to workers' demands, or in protest against conditions set by employer (dictionary.com)
  • Union (n): organization of workers who share common goal of improving working conditions

  • Art/Decoration
  • Art Nouveau (n): style of art/architecture in late 1800s/early 1900s with curvy lines and natural forms
  • Eclectic (adj): coming from many different sources
  • Exquisite (adj): extraordinarily fine or admirable
  • Landscape (n): picture showing nature or rural scenery
  • Motif (n): recurring subject, theme, idea in artistic work
  • Portrait (n): painting, drawing, or photograph of a person
  • Romanesque (adj): style of art/architecture of Rome in 9th-12th century, characterized by round arches, narrow openings
  • Renaissance (adj): relating to European Renaissance 14th-17th centuries (revival of art, literature, learning)
  • Ornate (adj): elaborately decorated, often excessively (dictionary.com)

  • Things in the House
  • Bidet (n): low basin for washing genital and perineal area
  • Bidet
  • Annunciator (n): system for calling household workers o particular rooms in the house
  • Orchestrion (n): mechanical musical instrument, somewhat like an organ, made to sound like an orchestra
  • Orchestrion

    Other
  • Affluent (adj): having an excessive of wealth, property, material objects, etc
  • Gilded Age (n): period in America at end of 1800s, expanding economy and growth of industry, wealthy class very influential in government
  • Mansion (n): large, impressive residence
  • Poker (n): card game played by 2+ players, players bet on value of cards in their hand
  • Chambermaid (n): girl who cleans and tidies bathrooms and bedrooms
  • Governess (n): woman who takes charge of child's upbringing, education, etc (dictionary.com)
  • Chauffeur (n): person who drives car or limousine for owner
  • Questions to Ask:

    Clayton, Frick, and His Family
    Why did husband and wife sleep in separate beds?
    How many servants did the family have? What roles did they have and what was their relationship with the family?
    Why was Childs's room on the same floor as the servants and guests?
    Who would stay overnight with the Frick family?
    Which guests were accommodated in the guest rooms on the 2nd floor, and which would be on the 3rd floor?
    Why was aluminum used underneath the ceiling paint in the parlor Clayton?


    Frick's Business Life
    How did Henry Clay Frick get his money to start his business?
    What caused the Homestead Strike? Were other steel companies suffering?
    What happened in the assassination attempt of Henry Clay Frick?
    What was Henry Clay Frick's relationship with Andrew Carnegie? Did it extend beyond business to their social life?


    Can't make it to Clayton? View the official Clayton tour on YouTube below:

    Tour Clayton (without captions)
    Tour Clayton (with captions)

    Back to the Frick