About us
The original portion of the building was constructed as The Wayne Brass Foundry in 1913 and then later renovated into Henninger Funeral Home during the Great Depression. Respectfully, we honor the lives and all of loved ones that met here to send off what some refer to as The Greatest Generation. Hidden for decades, the wood ceilings in The Coffeehouse and The Parlour Bar were uncovered and found painted white as they were original to the original foundry space complete with rusted-out industrial lighting. At our 47th and Butler Streets corner once stood “Centennial Hall” where the First Primitive Methodist Church was first organized. Our patio for our dining space, The Vesper Room operated as stone carving business. You can even find a cross carved in a stone at our Butler and Home Street corner that was uncovered during recent construction.
We’ve since pressed the imagination and the visual journey you will take wandering the many nooks of The Abbey on Butler Street - more than one visit will permit. We continue to expand and grow, providing an opportunity to never have the same experience twice after walking through our entry.
We’ve blended boundaries through the collaboration of baristas, cooks and bartenders, each offering the best of their respective crafts to create dishes and drinks that are both dependably inventive and comfortingly familiar.
During our massive renovation, the Owners personally exposed the old brick walls and sandblasted the wooden ceiling beams from the brass foundry days in The Parlour Bar. Here one can also find the original wrought iron elevator door panels from Pittsburgh’s Jenkin’s Arcade that once stood between Penn and Liberty Avenues at Stanwix Street!
Crowning The Coffeehouse is a reclaimed church rose window from Our Lady Help of Christian Church that was located in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood. Here, Owners and Staff worked together to hoist it in place and repurpose it as a chandelier and use it as our logo!
The Vesper Room is filled with reclaimed oak paneling and stained-glass windows that the Owners saved from the demolished Mary S. Brown Methodist Church that once stood on Beechwood Boulevard. It’s softly aglow with vintage advertising signs, many from Pittsburgh companies. The Vesper Room also has an outdoor dining room that’s centered one of the largest and greenest outdoor seating spaces in the city and centered around our three ton cast iron Windsor Fountain.
Our handcrafted ceramic tiles at our Vesper Room and Parlour Bar were designed by local artist Shari Bennet, to look like riveted steel and were kiln fired right at Limelight Tile in the Strip District. We made every attempt to utilize local talent and industry to create The Abbey. From woodwork & windows that we designed and had Allied Millwork in the Strip fabricate to all of our paint being sourced to PPG Paints. Christian at Brush & Pounce has meticulously created all of our hand painted vintage looking signage. LUX Ornamental Iron forged all of our ironwork on our Vesper Room patio while Construction Junction was always a fun “go-to” to find inspiration and finishing touches.
We’ve created The Abbey on Butler Street to give a sense of place and Pittsburgh history, the feeling that you’ve discovered something novel, yet close to home. We’ve brought together a coffeehouse, two bars, and a dining venue all under a single roof.
