Oakmont: Small Town America, Big Time Golf
Debra Smit
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
There are actually two Oakmonts, depending on how you define the word green.
The real Oakmont is the quintessential all-American town, as green as the freshly mowed lawns and the walking path—called the boulevard arboretum—which runs along railroad tracks through the dual main street. One mile wide and one mile high, as they say, Oakmont is a postcard of flag-waving enthusiasm, with shops, restaurants, an old-fashioned post office, cafes, a one-screen movie theater and the best homemade ice cream west of Penn State’s Creamery.
And everyone walks everywhere.
“It reminds me of the little town under the Christmas tree,” says Marc Serrao, owner of the Oakmont Bakery, a local business on the main thoroughfare that is celebrating its 20th year in business. Serrao has lived here most of his life. “It’s a place where you know everyone and everyone knows you and your children.”
There’s a proud sense of heritage, from the freshly remodeled county library to the Desert Storm war memorial just outside, the oldest inland yacht club in the country and the modest homes with front porches that open up to tree-lined, brick streets, the perfect place to watch the parades. “I really see it all coming back, places like this where people trust each other,” Serrao adds. “Even the local merchants live here.”
Then there’s the other Oakmont.
This Oakmont has greens, the notoriously fast, slick putting surfaces of the world famous golf course. Designed in 1903 by Henry Fownes, Oakmont Country Club has been coined the most difficult course in North America with tight fairways, greens that slope away from the player and the infamous “church pews.” More major championships have been played at Oakmont than any other course in the U.S., a list that includes eight U.S. Opens, five U.S. Amateurs, three PGA Championships and two U.S. Women’s Opens.
Head Pro Bob Ford has lived in both Oakmonts for 34 years. He and his wife, Nancy, raised their three children here, first in a club-provided home off the golf course for 25 years and later in town. “You get to know everyone, like the barber, the baker the restaurant guys, the pharmacist, which is kinda neat,” Ford says. “Even though the community doesn’t belong to the club, the club belongs to the community. Everyone feels like they’re a part of Oakmont.”
Some of golf’s greatest moments have played out on this course, from Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer to Johnny Miller’s round of 63 (a record 8 under par, which remains unbeaten) in 1973. The community, perhaps, recalls those tournaments a bit differently, depending on whether they left town or stayed and turned their lawns into a public parking lot. Such is the price famous communities pay when fame and fortune descends.
On most days, Oakmont proper basks quietly in the glow the famous golf course. Just 14 miles from downtown Pittsburgh and bordered on two sides by the Allegheny River, Oakmont is home to 6,911 residents and more than 170 retail stores and businesses. Allegheny Avenue is a popular destination for fashion seekers from the South Hills and Fox Chapel, boutiques Carabella, Catherina and Lucy being among the shops that draw a regular clientele, offering one-of-a-kind clothing and designer shoes you won’t see on everyone’s feet. Stop by Oakmont Candle Company and inhale the fragrant organic aroma of soy candles. The shop is one of the only makers of 100 percent soy candles in the eastern U.S., a toxin-free, carcinogen-free burning wax.
If you’re a mystery lover, you already know about the events, festivals and lectures at Mystery Lovers Bookshop. Far more than a bookstore, Mystery Lovers offers the only store-based mystery festival in the nation, as well as year round activities that draw authors and readers from across the country.
Hungry yet? Grab a coffee at Café Vita or a quick bite at Chelsea Grille. Feel like pizza? There’s Tomanetti’s, pleasing pizza lovers for 50 years with dough homemade on site. Carnivore’s is a local favorite, especially during the summer when the windows open. You might want to stop by Hoffstot’s and check the specials, or settle for the pecan-crusted sea bass, a favorite of Bob Ford. Or take time for fine dining at another local favorite, The Mighty Oak Barrel, where patrons pack the U-shaped bar and an international tapas fare is featured along with entrée specials every week.
But save room. BrrKee’s Ice Cream & Yogurt has the best ice cream in the ‘burgh, having learned to churn from the best at Penn State.
The sweetest and most industrious block of town is home to the Oakmont Bakery. With a staff of 74, the bakery is busy round the clock, icing up between 300 and 500 fresh cakes every weekend for retail sale. It’s the best picture window in town, where you can watch the beehive of activity from the street. And, fyi, if anyone ever asks what one cake you’d eat before you die, you might pick the Oakmonter, an 8-inch Italian-style cheesecake with a thick layer of fudge, dark chocolate, creamy milk chocolate butter cream frosting, drizzled with ganache and topped with chocolate pieces, cherries and vanilla cream.
It was Serrao and his family who made the decision to restore The Oaks Theatre across the street seven years ago. It broke Serrao’s heart to watch its decline. So when it looked as though a developer would raze it for an office building, Serrao stepped in and resurrected the Art Deco structure. The one-screen theater, completely refurbished, offers popular programs and movies to the community. The author of the Indiana Jones recently stopped by.
One of the more exciting developments in Oakmont surrounds the future of prime real estate on the riverfront, the site of the Edgewater Steel brownfield. Two large development projects are planned. The River’s Edge of Oakmont touts a diverse mix of 170 single homes, city homes, condos and retail space on 28 acres on the south side of Oakmont. Rothschild, Doyno Architects designed the project, which recently won a region and urban design award from AIA Pittsburgh. The second project is the Edgewater by KACIN, a 241-unit riverfront development on 31 acres, which will include a mix of dwellings: single family homes, metro flats and townhomes. Both projects are pending final approval and construction is expected to commence this fall on Edgewater and next year on River's Edge.
Both projects also plan to tie into with existing recreational facilities at Riverside Park, to the north, and the arboretum walking trail. Riverside offers a host of activities, from ballfields to tennis courts, and the area's Dark Hollow Woods to the east features lovely hiking trails.
The Three Rivers Heritage Trail, a proposed 37-mile greenway system, also has high hopes for a long and winding trail system that ultimately will run along either side of the Allegheny, including a northward extension that will connect from Pittsburgh through Verona and Oakmont.
So much to do, so much to see, so much happening so stay tuned!
Debra Smit is innovation/job growth news editor for Pop City.
Captions:
Oakmont Bakery
Desert Storm memorial
Lucy's
Mystery Lover's Bookstore
Oaks Theater
Rendering of The River's Edge courtesy Rothschild Doyno Architects
All photographs copyright Brian Cohen