The frick history

Exterior of Clayton Photo Frick Collection. Helen's Bedroom First with her father, Henry Clay Frick, famous for his wealth and second by the tragic death of her older sister, Martha, who died when she was 6 and Helen was 3. This caused her much grief, for years to come. Helen and her family moved into their Pittsburgh home, Clayton, and stayed there from until Helen was five years old when they moved in and seventeen when they moved across the country to New York City.

At age 20 in , three years even after she and her family had moved to a much larger and extravagant home in New York, Helen decided that she wanted her debutant gift from her father to be Frick Park.

Richard danforth 1919

Frick Park would turn out to be one of the most popular public parks established in Pittsburgh and is still widely used today. Helen wanted her gift to be something that everyone could enjoy in the city that she knew and loved. After Henry left for work, Helen and her mother snuck onto a train southbound towards their Pittsburgh home. This was the first of many elegant parties that Helen and her brother Childs would host at Clayton.

At one celebrated Christmas party, Childs and Helen held over 70 guests while their parents held a close gathering of 12 friends. The exact feeling of the home cannot be captured in an image or even described, it is only known through feeling and imagined memories. Maids were cleaning, servants were preparing the next meal, butlers were running errands, stable-boys were caring for the horses, landscapers were tending to the grounds, Mademoiselles were running after young Helen, and likewise tutors after Childs in the playhouse, Mrs.