Home >  Lifestyle >  Homes

Saturday, January 11, 2003

By Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The tiny borough of Ben Avon is renowned for it tree-lined streets and well-kept older homes, many of which date to the turn of the century. But when it was first settled in the early 1800s, it was no more than a hamlet on an isolated bluff high above the Ohio River.

	A well-maintained Victorian on Dickson Avenue in Ben Avon. (Robin Rombach, Post-Gazette)

That all changed with the introduction in 1851 of a rail line along the Ohio and, in 1906, street car service. Ben Avon's population grew from 859 inhabitants in 1900 to more than 2,000 in 1920. It became, as developer H.P. McCurdy proclaimed in a 1905 issue of Suburban Life, "a Most Beautiful Place to Live."

Two Ben Avon homes built in the mid- to late 1800s are now on the market. Though they're just a few doors from one another, the houses (and their prices) illustrate the difference that location, condition and other factors can have on the market.

The 2 1/2-story gray Victorian at 126 Dickson Ave. features four bedrooms, a breakfast room with rear servants' staircase and living room with a walk-out bay window. Lovingly maintained over the years, it is being marketed by Prudential Preferred Realty for $297,500.

The two-story Italianate at 6925 Ohio River Blvd., meanwhile, is waiting to be rescued by a contractor or energetic do-it-yourselfer. Constructed between 1870 and 1873 on 2.7 acres overlooking the Ohio, the five-bedroom house on a busy stretch of Route 65 is priced by Coldwell Banker Real Estate at $160,000.

Built in the early 1850s, or about 40 years before the borough was incorporated, the Dickson Avenue property still boasts many of its original Victorian features, including 11-foot ceilings on the first floor, hardwood floors and four marble fireplaces.

A spacious covered front porch added during a renovation in the late 1880s (the house's original entrance faces the boulevard) connects the house to the street and the community beyond. In warm weather, it serves as an extension of the living room and is connected to the 22- by 11-foot foyer with leaded-glass front door and entry closet.

The light-filled formal living room features 7-foot-tall windows as well as a large bay window with a leaded glass top overlooking the front yard. High baseboards, multilayered plaster crown molding and a hunter-green coal-burning fireplace with decorative wood mantel recall its Victorian heritage.

The formal dining room has floral wallpaper imported from England and an elaborate marble fireplace. A decorative Eastlake-style built-in china closet on one side allows the homeowners to showcase their crystal and china collections.

The adjoining galley kitchen, originally a walk-in pantry, has stainless-steel countertops and two rows of birch cabinets. It opens into a cheery, 13- by 12-foot breakfast room with a built-in bench, white-painted wainscoting and decorative mantel. A back staircase leads to the second floor.

According to Jim Bass, the owner's son, the staircase leading to the second floor originally ran the other way, when the front door overlooked the river; it was reversed when the front porch was added near the turn of the century. The stained-glass window on the second-floor landing, however, is in its original spot.

The second floor holds four bedrooms and a single bath with pedestal sink and original claw-foot tub (painted pink). The 18- by 15-foot master bedroom boasts a decorative marble fireplace, hardwood floors and walk-in closet. The adjoining bedroom, originally a nursery, also has a marble fireplace as well as a small sitting room.

Not enough space? The third floor features three additional unheated bedrooms/storage rooms. There is also a two-car detached garage, all new plumbing, a new furnace, central air and a security system.

The Ohio River Boulevard house, conversely, is very much a diamond in the rough. It was built as a summer retreat by John and Sarah Arthurs, a great-niece of Ben Avon's first settler, William Dickson. It has a bird's-eye view of The Point and was known as "The Pines" in the early part of the 20th century. In 1981, the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation named the building to its list of historic landmarks.

Now named the Arthurs-Johnson house to recognize the original owners and the couple who did some restoration of the house in the '70s, the house still needs lots of work. Some interior walls were removed when it was used as a personal-care home in the 1970s and there is no kitchen and only one bath. But it has pluses, too.

With nearly three acres of land, it's one of the largest properties in the borough. Unfortunately, some of that land is on the other side of Route 65. (When the boulevard was constructed in the 1920s, it cut through the front yard. You can still see the original driveway on the other side of the road leading under the bridge.)

The house has retained many of its original Victorian features, such as 13-foot ceilings on the first floor, plaster crown molding, marble mantels and wooden shutters on the extra-long windows. The two-story addition on the back of the house is more recent.

One of the home's biggest pluses is its size. Unlike more modern abodes, the rooms are big. The formal living room, for instance, measures 23 by 17 feet and the master bedroom is 25 by 14 feet.

A small entry area off the front porch opens into the 23- by 8-foot front hall, connected to a 16- by 15-foot family room and 17- by 16-foot formal dining room.

The second floor has five bedrooms with generous closet space. There is also a small room off the landing that could be used as a walk-in closet, home office or den. The home also features a one-car detached garage with an attached workshop and additional storage space, and a covered side porch.

Open houses will be held today at both homes. 126 Dickson Ave. is open from 1 to 4 p.m. (Kathy Hall or Betsy Wotherspoon, 412-367-8000, Ext. 270 or 272 or www.prudentialpreferred.com/ virtual tour No. 439541). The Arthurs-Johnson House, 6925 Ohio River Blvd., is open from 2 to 4 p.m. (Jason Moots, 412-999-9552 or www.pittsburghmoves.com/ Web I.D. No. 750832.