Andrew Mellon’s mansion in Pittsburgh was thought to have one of the first residential indoor pools — a space featuring the same kind of intricate, interlocking Gustavino tile work that one sees all over New York. In 1941, when the Mellons gave the mansion to the Pennsylvania College for Women (known today as Chatham University), the small pool continued to be used by students.

It closed in 2004, when the university built a new athletic facility. Over the years, the room had lost its luster. Humidity had begun to destroy the intricate woodwork in the building, and the tile grout had turned black from years of exposure to Pittsburgh’s sooty industrial air. In 2006, Chatham hired Rothschild Doyno Architects, a Pittsburgh firm, to help figure out a new use for the space.

Today, the old pool area is Chatham’s newest conference room.