Looking across E North Street into Allegheny Park and Lake Elizabeth,
the 137-year-old Boggs Mansion – a 9,000 square foot Romanesque beauty with a stone exterior and a colorful history – just begs to be filled with guests and parties.
A Pittsburgh Friendsgiving
Designed by world-famous architect H. H. Richardson for Russell Boggs and Marie Christine (Buhl) Boggs in 1888, the 19th century structure carries within it stories of Pittsburgh’s elites – Carnegie, Frick, Mellon, Heinz – gathering for dinner parties. On this present-day November Sunday, a group of North Side pals reinvents such an assembly, breaking bread and giving thanks for each other and for the community that is their home.
The Decor
To create a comfortable potluck with friends in the grandiose Victorian interior of the mansion, the guests enlist The Peddler, a Pittsburgh flower design duo, who speak to “cultivating beauty through meaningful human connection” with their sylvan-inspired offerings. An asymmetrical dried floral arch at dining room entry and a complimentary piece for the parlor mantle marry whimsy and elegance and add special appeal to this gathering of busy families. Katelyn Fisher and Lauren Nissley, founders of The Peddler, have recently created a line of rentable dried flower pieces for special events, a delightfully eco-friendly option for a party glow-up.
Upon entrance to the mansion, a glimpse of an earthy tablescape can be caught, across the foyer and through the floral-adorned dining doorway. Shiny enameled vessels are mixed with vintage serving pieces – a hammered metal bowl, a delicate hand-woven basket, pink and brown pottery – all collected in the Boggs dining room, their textures and colors as layered as the guests and menu. At each place setting, handwritten place cards atop tea-stained vintage napkins bundled with dried poppy, artichoke, yarrow, as well as fern make a bespoke moment for each guest to savor.
The Food
Tall, dusty-pink taper candles glow, ready to mark the easy passing of time
during this thankful rendezvous. A few long-standing family recipes passed down through generations make up the menu, alongside some fresh culinary twists that reflect the gatherers. For Meg Van Dyke, who is accustomed to planning large sit-down dinners for wedding receptions, this is a more intimate assembly where connections deepen, and then traditions evolve. “Family is as much about who you share your table with as it is about the food you serve,” says Meg. She and her husband, Josh, contribute some favorites: the Turkey, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, as well as Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds with Bacon & Pecan Glaze. Devoted North Sider and guest, Julia Allan, passes around a handled cassolette.
“Each Thanksgiving of my childhood, my dad’s whole family would gather at my grandparents’ house. He was one of five siblings, and, in my memory, it was always a priority for everyone to make the journey home for the holiday.”
For Julia, husband Dennis, and family, Grammie’s Corn Casserole revives those tender memories each year. “The warm, sweet aroma calls to mind a beloved phrase Grammie uttered at the end of every phone conversation and penned at the end of every card or letter – ‘consider yourself hugged.’” Says Julia, “I got a little chuckle when I saw my mom’s handwritten notation at the bottom of the recipe card: ‘x6 for Dawsons.’ There were a lot of us!” For a Northside Friendsgiving, the notation still holds true. Between these eight gathered adults, they have 15 hungry city kids to satisfy as well.
…and the Conversation That Follows
While photographer Katie Long captures dinner moments on the Canon R6 habitually worn round her neck, her husband, Derek, shares the origin of his Filling Balls – mounds of stuffing baked in muffin tins, an old friend-shared recipe that Derek’s Grandma Fritz made most Thanksgivings.
“Affectionately called the Bazaar Ladies because they would run the church bazaar at our family church,” says Derek, Grandma Fritz and friends made the filling balls for the church bazaar and sold them there. “Once my grandmother passed away, my mom started making them. And now that my mom has passed away, my sister and Katie carry that mantle.”
As always, a Thanksgiving meal packed with protein and also carbs warrants some showy veggies. Guest Jason Esser, whose experimental cooking from age twelve has evolved into a deep love for texture and flavor in the kitchen, is just the person to elevate those greens. He tops a roasting pan of Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Sautéed Mushrooms & Crispy Shallots and then oversees the addition of garlic sour cream, honey, and pistachios to Mummum’s Carrot Casserole from his wife’s family table
Bubbly and Dessert
Between second and third helpings, bottles of wine–Argentinian Malbec, Chardonnay, and sparkling Rosé from North Side neighbor, Refucilo Winery–pass hand to hand, goblet to goblet, around the table of eight. Hosts showcase array of sweets on a stunning Boggs built-in sideboard.
Sometime after dinner and conversation, when the kids have left the kids’ table after an impressive inhale of flavors, space is made for coffee, libations, and the delicate desserts of piebird and Confections by Casey Renee. Then, a slice of Hannah-Jacobsen-made Coconut Cream pie balanced in one hand and some Classic Apple Pie as backup in the other, and a sliver of cake just for good measure, friends move from the dining room to take in the mansion’s interior and architectural richness.
Past the foyer’s striking blood marble fireplace, young friends pick up Boggs-worthy games in the parlor. A chessboard jumps to life alongside a strategy puzzle. Next door, laughter swells from the moody Bar Room adjacent to an impressive winding staircase that boasts more than enough steps for a kid-to-kid perch.
Winding Down Friendsgiving
With every last crumb and calorie appreciated, some of the dinner crowd cross into Allegheny Park for tree climbing and football. Boggs Mansion’s large parlor window frames their movement like a big screen TV. The Pittsburgh air is cold, the landscape bare, and the sights looking toward Downtown don’t carry the same lushness that they hold in spring and summer, but these Northsiders are unfazed. They grin ear to ear, thankful for family, friends, as well as community.
Story and Styling by Leah Hohman Esser
Production by Meg Van Dyke
Photography by Katie Long
Shot on Location at Boggs Mansion
Florals by The Peddler
Wine by Refucilo Wine
Pies by Piebird
Cakes by Confections by Casey Renee
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