From The Archives

1811 Landmark, Restored in Style

This is a Federal Style house with a Victorian era front porch, set on approximately 1.2 acres in North Strabane Twp., Pa, about 16 miles south of Pittsburgh. (Mailing address is Eighty-Four, Pa.) A stone on one gable dates the house to 1811. It is a designated Washington County landmark.

Most historical details on this house are still intact, both inside and out. But there also have been many sensitively added updates that make this four-bedroom, three-full-baths home an easy one for modern lifestyles. This is a home with seven fireplaces, two of which operate today with wood stove inserts. The operating fireplace in the den/study is believed to have been the original winter kitchen fireplace. The operating fireplace in the family room is believed to have been the centerpiece of the summer kitchen. Mantles, doors, interior hardware, and various hardwood and pine floors appear to be original, or at least from some point early in the life of the house.

Yet the updates are significant. For example, the kitchen is thoroughly up-to-date with dark hardwood cabinets, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. There’s a modern master bath with extra closet space right off the master bedroom. (The master and two other bedrooms are original to the house.) A full bath on the main floor off the slate-floored family room is also newer, while a third bath off an upstairs hall in the original part of the house has intact fixtures that appear to date to about the turn-of-the-century.

Adding to the convenience – all roofs and 50 windows have recently been replaced in style. (The windows are double-pane; the roofs are coated steel.)

The house has a big and welcoming front porch, a lovely 16x30 patio accessed through French doors from the family room and also from the kitchen, a 10x14 breakfast room, a first floor laundry in a large closet off the breakfast room, a large walk-in closet in the upstairs back hall, and many other spaces that offer modern conveniences or Nineteenth-Century charm. Outside, there’s a small “barn,” a 60x60 fenced dog yard, a full-size two-car garage, and plenty of lawn space. Water supply and sewers are public.