"You bring the name, I will bring the design"

The Partnership of Bartberger and Dietrich 1883-1886

House near Pittsburgh, PA by the new formed partnership of Bartberger and Dietrich 
published in the American Architect and Building News, December 22, 1883 

The first published drawing from the newly created firm of Bartberger and Dietrich appeared in the American Architect and Building News in December 1883.  Charles M. Bartberger (1850-1939) was the son of well-known Pittsburgh architect Charles F. Bartberger (1824-1896).  The elder Bartberger was born in Karlruhe, Germany and attended the Karlsruhe Polytechnic.  After graduating, he immigrated to Pittsburgh in 1845 where he established a successful architectural practice.  Following in his father's footsteps, son Charles M. Bartberger also attended the Karlsruhe Polytechnic and after graduation returned to Pittsburgh to practice architecture with the benefit of the recognized Bartberger name.

E. G. W. Dietrich came from a more humble background.  He attended the Western College of Pennsylvania (today's University of Pittsburgh) and graduated from Duff's College.  Interestingly, Charles F. Bartberger was at one time a professor of "Architectural, Mechanical, and Landscape drawings" at Duff's.  First training under architects David I. Kuhn and James W. Drum and later working for James T. Steen, Dietrich brought his talent for executing beautiful architectural drawings and creating imaginative designs to the new partnership of Bartberger and Dietrich.

Designs for a town hall (left) and office building (right)
published in the Architect, Builder, and Woodworker, July 1886

The partnership, with Dietrich in charge of design, enjoyed quick success with projects not only in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania but also with commissions further afield in Cincinnati, Ohio and Warwick, New York.  Bartberger and Dietrich designed schools, churches, and public buildings, but it was the firm's design of houses in the new shingle style that best represented Dietrich's design abilities and attracted the most attention.  The firm's success, particularly in New York, lead to its break up.  With a growing contacts list and the promise of more commissions on the East Coast, Dietrich left Pittsburgh for New York for the second time in November 1886.   

A Country House published in the Architect, Builder, and Woodworker, August 1886