In O'Hara Township, the HillsOften Come Alive with the Sound of Music

Outside the Bayernhof Credit All Photos to Bill Rockwell

    If you listen closely enough, you just might hear all sorts of music and musical sounds coming from a huge house atop a high hill in O'Hara Township. No, it's not coming from a boom box or subwoofer, but from one or more of the 150 automated music machines collected by an eccentric millionaire by the name of Charles Boyd Brown III.

Photo of Charles Boyd Brown Hanging on a Wall at Bayernhof

          But first the backstory. When Brown decided to build a house, he first looked for a location by hiring a helicopter to fly over the area and scout around for a suitable site. His final choice, an 18 plus acre tract on top a 540-foot-tall overlook in O’Hara Township with a knockout view of the Allegheny River and Highland Park.

          As founder and CEO of Gas-Lite Manufacturing Company in Lawrenceville, Brown amassed a fortune, $4.2 million of which he allotted to Bayernhof, his sprawling mansion. Construction began in 1976 and work on the manse, whose name translates from German to “Bavaria courtyard,” was finished in 1982.

A Commanding View from the Bayernhof

The 19,000-square-foot house includes a rooftop observatory, a wine cellar, a swimming pool with a 10-foot waterfall, ten fireplaces, eight full baths, six bedrooms, three powder rooms. three full-size kitchens and a large canning room. Oh yes, and hidden doors, secret passageways and spectacular views from a vantage point as tall as Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington.

Brown loved to entertain and prepare dinners for his friends and acquaintances. And made use of his fully equipped kitchen and adjacent dining room, which seated 16 in wooden chairs, each hand carved with a different animal found in the Black Forest. Known for his eccentricity, Brown insisted that Nipper, a large model of the RCA dog, sit at the head of the table during the meal.

Player Pianos on Display

Near the end of his life, Brown began collecting rare, automated music machines from the 19^th and 20^th century, which now number over 150 pieces. These are scattered throughout the house, and, on guide-led tours, visitors get to hear close to two dozen of them "perform." 

A Welte-Cottage Orchestrion #2 from 1907 in the Living Room

Prior to his death in 1999, he established a foundation named after his great-grandfather, which allocated $2 million to refurbish the mansion and open it as a museum open to the public in 2004. Today, the house is 95% true to what it looked like in Brown’s day, down to the automated musical instruments.

Currently, the Bayernhof Music Museum offers 2-1/2 hour long, curator-led tours that take in 18 of the house’s 23 rooms and include listening to some of the mechanical musical rarities as well as interesting anecdotes about Brown, like the fact that he liked to wear blue Brooks shirts and had 285 identical ones in his closet when her passed.

Along with automatic musical instruments, Brown collected other interesting items like the large espresso machine that once served the patrons at Ernie’s Esquire restaurant or the ten-burner gas range from West View Park. The total number of artifacts and items is stunning but everything in the house is tastefully arranged.

A Piano Orchestrion with Roller Paper

Automated musical instrument highlights include a double played violin, an 1894 Orchestrion valued at $330,000, a Black Forest musical chair that plays a tune when you sit on it and a mechanical bird box with birds preserved by taxidermy that move and sing. In the French Room, decorated with Italian paintings no less, a table lamp opens unexpectedly on a hidden phonograph that plays 33-1/3 r.p.m. records.

The Skylight in the Gaming Room

In the Gambling Room, be sure to check out the extravagant skylight depicting German scenes and a self-playing banjo, then climb the narrow staircase to the observatory which boasts a 16-inch reflecting telescope.

In the Board Room

To get to Brown’s office, go through a hidden door and down a secret passageway. Photos of Brown with many of the well-known people he encountered over his lifetime are mounted on his office walls.  

     

Guide Lisa Dewit in Brown's Office

In the Billiard Room, you’ll find one of the three pool tables used to make the 1961 film “The Hustler” starring Paul Newman. It sits in front of a 1933 Decap jazz organ, made up of a self-playing sax, organ, accordion and drums.

A 1911 Phonograph

In the Edison Room, named for the famous inventor, take a look at a unique wax cylinder mahogany phonograph from 1911, an Edison invention, before the curator leads you through another hidden door. It leads to some even more unexpected surprises. I’ll leave unnamed so as not to spoil your actual in-person experience.

An Outdoor Water Feature at Bayernhof

        The Bayernhof Music Museum, 225 St. Charles Place in Pittsburgh (O’Hara Township), is open seven days a week for docent-led tours. Admission is by reservation only by phoning 412-782-4231. Tours are limited to 12 people per tour and children must be 12 years old or older.

Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Admission is $10.00 per person. Cash only.

Outside the FrontPorch Restaurant

For a Place to Dine, Luke and Mike’s Frontporch Restaurant, 235 Commercial Avenue in Aspinwall, is housed in a 1913 train station that had been moved across the street to its current location. Quaint and casual, the restaurant features indoor and outdoor dining on its roofed over porch or patio shaded by huge trees.

Lamb Lollipops on a Bed of Mint Hummus

The restaurant menu lists handhelds, salads, entrees and small bites made with local ingredients whenever possible.  Dishes we tried and can vouch for are Braised Beef Ravioli, the Herb Rubbed Lollipop Lamb Chops and the Grilled Sweet Chili Chicken. Phone 412-252-2877 or frontporchgrille.com.

Grilled Sweet Chili Chicken, Mango Salsa, Coconut Rice and Snow Peas