Buying Here: Deutschtown

Source: Pittsburgh Post-GazetteSept.儲存倉 14--Nick Kyriazi and the East Allegheny Community Council try to maintain the architectural texture and history of the North Side neighborhood also known as Deutschtown. So when house historian Carol Peterson alerted them that one of their older houses was for sale on Craigslist, they didn't waste any time."She said, 'You guys have got to go and save this house,' " recalled Mr. Kyriazi, the council's vice president in charge of real estate.Ms. Peterson said the small row house at 1102 Linden Place was built sometime between 1839 to 1849. Determined to save the dilapidated house from possible demolition and keep it out of the hands of a slumlord, the council bought it for $10,000 in September 2011 and tried to resell it -- without much luck.So its leaders decided to jump-start the preservation process by restoring the facade. Now that it's finished, several potential buyers have stepped forward. The two-bedroom house is priced at $35,000 with one key proviso: The new owner must agree to live in the house once its renovation is complete. For more information or to arrange a visit, contact Mr. Kyriazi at nkyriazi@comcast.net or 412-323-2569."We're hoping to show other [neighborhoods] that have houses like this that they don't need to make them artificially 'Victorianized,' " he said. "It can be handsome just restoring it back to what it was."The first step in returning the facade to its original look was to figure out what that was. Luckily, removing newer siding showed the outlines of the original windows and doorways on the old wood siding. Somewhere along the line, three windows on the second floor had turned into one big one and one small one. Previous owners had also reduced the stately front door to a shadow of its former self, filling the space with a door from a big-box store that ignored the house's architectural history. It's a wonder the house survived at all, Mr. Kyriazi said."[They were] very modest houses and nobody was all that sure this area north of the Allegheny River was going to go anywhere," he said. "Later, when Allegheny City took off in the 1870s or '90s, houses like this were demolished, added onto or 'Victorianized.' "To get an even better idea of what houses from this period looked like, Mr. Kyriazi traveled to Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C., where many homes of this period have been preserved. During restoration, photos of these houses were used for reference for everything from trim to the proper number of panes in the new double-hung windows. Even the door and lattice on the enclosed pass-through next to the front door were carefully researched and re-created.Mr. Kyriazi's interest in historical preservation began when a friend volunteering with the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation introduced him to the Mexican War Streets. Over the years, he has traveled to historical districts across the country, gathering ideas and knowledge that he uses in EACC rehabilation projects.This house's beautiful facade gives no hint of the work ahead for the interior, which will need a full renovation including plumbing, electrical and a new gas boiler. On the rear is a three-story addition that Mr. Kyriazi believes was built in the 1870s. Sadly, it is structurally deficient and will have to be removed, he said.Off the front hall are a li迷你倉價錢ing room and dining room that each measure 15 by 15 feet. Because they are separated by a non-load-bearing wall, Mr. Kyriazi said some prospective buyers have discussed removing the wall to create an open plan. And because the kitchen is in the rear addition that will have to be removed, the buyer also would have to decide where the new kitchen would go. Two small bedrooms and a bathroom are upstairs.The two fireplace mantels are the best intact features of the interior. They helped Mr. Kyriazi to pinpoint the construction date."The mantel upstairs, that really clinched it for me. That really marked it as a house from the 1840s," he said, showing the depth of his research. "That's a design I had never seen in this neighborhood but I had seen it in Charleston and Savannah."Another indication is the brick hearthstone. According to Mr. Kyriazi, hearths would have been made of marble or tile by the 1850s and '60s. The hearth on the downstairs fireplace is tile but there may be brick underneath.The Allegheny County real estate website lists the house's construction date as 1900. Mr. Kyriazi believes that its true date was not recorded because it wasn't occupied by its owner."Everything north of Avery Street was owned by Mary Schenley and she leased the land to people," he said. "It wasn't until she died that they sold the parcels to the people whose houses were on it."The hallways upstairs and downstairs have Art Nouveau-style pressed wallpaper that may date to the 1890s and would take considerable effort to retain. The floors -- 6-inch-wide planks of yellow pine or fir -- are in good condition but would need to be refinished.Linden Place is a small side street off East North Avenue and just a couple of blocks from Allegheny General Hospital and I-279. Shops on East Ohio Street are a five-minute walk away and Downtown is about 20 minutes away on foot.The property has a 2013 county assessment of $10,000 (2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/Default.aspx). Over the last three years, six other properties have sold on Linden Place for prices ranging from $40,000 in August 2012 to $156,400 in July 2010 (.realstats.net).SALES SNAPSHOT21ST WARD/MANCHESTER20122013SALES3857MEDIAN PRICE$43,000$45,559HIGHEST PRICE$295,900$349,90022ND WARD/NORTH SHORE20122013SALES4142MEDIAN PRICE$175,000$151,000HIGHEST PRICE$404,703$425,00023RD WARD/EAST ALLEGHENY20122013SALES5364MEDIAN PRICE$42,000$52,500HIGHEST PRICE$350,000$370,00024TH WARD/TROY HILL20122013SALES7689MEDIAN PRICE$23,000$25,038HIGHEST PRICE$685,000$1,050,00025TH WARD/CENTRAL NORTH SIDE20122013SALES7487MEDIAN PRICE$37,674$37,000HIGHEST PRICE$354,013$3,335,00026TH WARD/PERRY HILLTOP20122013SALES141189MEDIAN PRICE$39,000$40,000HIGHEST PRICE$258,000$292,00027TH WARD/BRIGHTON HEIGHTS20122013SALES179244MEDIAN PRICE$49,805$41,000HIGHEST PRICE$196,000$205,000BELLEVUE20122013SALES88112MEDIAN PRICE$93,000$86,000HIGHEST PRICE$168,500$292,100BEN AVON20122013SALES3025MEDIAN PRICE$154,440$160,000HIGHEST PRICE$341,600$388,000BEN AVON HEIGHTS20122013SALES69MEDIAN PRICE$205,000$290,000HIGHEST PRICE$515,000$480,000AVALON20122013SALES4792MEDIAN PRICE$75,000$70,000HIGHEST PRICE$180,000$250,000Lizabeth Gray: lgray@post-gazette.com.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at .post-gazette.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉最平