The only way to truly understand and appreciate Chatham Village is to visit and walk through its courtyards and parks. Although a drive around its perimeter roads is quite enjoyable, it's the inner walkways, courtyards and gardens that truly create the rich texture of Chatham Village.
Our online
photo albums highlight some of the vistas and delights you'd encounter on an actual walk in the Village. Professional societies, universities, and other groups interested in visiting and touring Chatham Village should arrange a scheduled visit with the Manager.
Nestled on a 46-acre site on Pittsburgh's Mt. Washington, Chatham Village’s 197 townhouses and 19 apartments provide a quiet retreat from the bustle of city life. Trees, green lawns, gardens, parks and nearly 26 acres of natural woodland create an idyllic setting. Private roadways circle the Village so interior courts and gardens are free from traffic and noise. And the Village includes many special features—tennis and basketball courts, ball fields, a playground, garden plots, picnic areas, and a network of wooded walking trails.
Chatham Village’s architecture, landscape, and overall plan have formed the backdrop for a thriving community and have been the subject of numerous scholarly and popular articles.
Chatham Wood
The Village’s original planners took full advantage of its natural assets, reserving nearly 26 acres of pristine woodland on its perimeter slopes for the enjoyment of its residents. In this wonderful urban woodlands, two-hundred-year-old oaks tower over sandstone and limestone outcroppings. Nature trails lace the woodland and cross wooden footbridges spanning streams. And a picnic area for residents’ use sits at the woodland's edge near the community’s clubhouse, Chatham Hall. The woodland also extends along Olympia Road, providing a visual and sound buffer between Chatham Village and the City of Pittsburgh’s Olympia Park.
Woodland Facts
Trails
- Two miles of rustic trails—including two wooden footbridges that cross a stream—traverse the woodlands that frame Chatham Village.
- As part of the Pennsylvania Forest Stewardship Plan, Chatham Village has begun a woodland enhancement project that will be implemented in stages over the next decade.
- The wide variety of trees represented in the woodland—some dating to 19th Century— includes oak, maple, hickory, cherry, basswood, tulip tree, Osage, hackberry, Hawthorne, sassafras, and black locust. Spicebush and viburnum can be found in the shrub layer.
- With a keen eye, trail walkers can spot a wide variety of native wildflowers in the spring and fall.
- Nearby is access to Emerald View Park, one of Pittsburgh’s Regional Parks since 2007. This park comprises 235 acres of green space on Mt. Washington and Duquesne Heights and nearly nine miles of trails.
Wildlife
- The nearly 26 acres of Chatham Wood are home to such wildlife as squirrels, raccoons, groundhogs, deer, and turkey.
- Raptors such as Cooper’s hawk and sharp-shinned hawk are regularly spotted, along with occasional evidence or sighting of an owl.
- Many varieties of woodpecker are seen and heard, including downy, hairy, red bellied, red headed, and pileated.
- Cardinals are a common sight throughout the Village, as are robins, jays, crows, and mourning doves.
- Birds such as house finches, goldfinches, hummingbirds, orioles, sparrows, black-eyed juncos, and tufted titmice visit feeders in the Village following their migratory patterns.
Woodland Picnic Grounds
A picnic grove near the Village’s clubhouse, Chatham Hall, is set in a grassy clearing among the trees, with picnic benches and a rustic stone grill for residents’ use.
