Initially located in downtown Pittsburgh, the club was chartered to bring together college graduates who enjoyed literature, art, and other culture.

It later moved to Oakland to be closer to the city's college campuses, settling into the 1923 classical-style limestone building designed by architect Henry Hornbostel.

The building features a grand lobby with a curved staircase, a ballroom with a 600-pound crystal chandelier, high ceilings, a library room, and 10-foot-tall (3.0 m) windows with sweeping views of the university campus.

[7] The building will serve within the university's educational mission with the presence of Family House, which will provide learning and outreach opportunities for students and faculty in Pitt's Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, and Social Work.

[12] The $4.5 million renovation of the upper four floors of the University Club for the Family House began in January 2008 and was designed by Designstream Architectural Studio, while Massaro Corporation acted as construction manager on the project.

[13] In March 2022, Family House vacated its space in the University Club and consolidated its locations on Liberty Avenue in the Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

[16] Ranging from mid-19th-century pieces to newly commissioned works, several of the artworks depict local scenes, including the Edgar Thomson Works by Ron Donoughe, hanging outside the library, Monongahela Incline by Tom Ruddy, hanging in the lower lobby, Early Morning Bear Run by Wang Yubao, in a vestibule near the Thackeray Street entrance, and in the club's main vestibule, a pair of Louis Orr etchings of the Cathedral of Learning and Heinz Chapel, as well as a depiction of the early 20th-century "Acropolis" plan for the campus designed by Henry Hornbostel.