read() method of Pin class resets the pin's state?

That's where I always put my pinMode() calls.

I'd very much like a pin.mode() - Gordon indicated a willingness to implement this...

I oppose pin.readOutputValue(). Set the pin mode properly in the first place and use pin.read(), or remember what you've set the pin to. Unless we're interested in cases where the output value is not the same as the logical value on the pin because you're trying to draw so much current that the chip can't drive it hard enough.