[3] The district properties are located in the center of Bryn Athyn, on the west side of Huntington Pike (Pennsylvania Route 232), and is roughly bisected by Cathedral Road.

He retained the renowned New York City firm of Carrère and Hastings to design his estate, called Cairnwood.

The Bryn Athyn Cathedral, its centerpiece, was built through the work of Pitcairn's son Raymond and Ralph Adams Cram.

The design methods used in these workshops typified the Arts and Crafts movement, emphasizing a collaborative approach between architects and craftsmen, allowing the latter a more inspirational contribution to the final products.

Ralph Adams Cram, who was eventually sidelined in the oversight of the cathedral's construction, wrote that "in its inception and its working out, it has been unique, not only in my own experience, but I believe in the architectural history of the last 400 years.