Rebecca Droke, Post-Gazette 1006 Glenshaw Ave., Shaler, was built in the early 1900s and has 5,000 square feet of living space.

By Gretchen McKay, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Lower Glenshaw was already bustling with industry in 1852, when the engineering marvel known as Butler Plank Road cut travel time for stagecoaches from Pittsburgh and Butler to a mere 14 hours. John Shaw had built a saw mill, followed by a grist mill and a sickle factory that ran on water power.

Rebecca Droke, Post-Gazette In the foyer, the newel post lamp figurine of a woman harvesting grapes was found at an antique shop in the Strip District. Click photo for larger image. More information An open house will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. today at 1006 Glenshaw Ave., Shaler. For more information, contact JoAnn Milesky of Northwood Realty Services at 412-367-3200, ext. 146, or go to www.northwood.com, MLS No. 642975.

Those log structures are long gone. But the house Mr. Shaw built on Glenshaw Avenue in Shaler still stands, amid a cluster of newer Victorian and Colonial Revival homes that sprang up near the mills in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Houses don't change hands often in this small, historic grid of streets. But every once a while, a For Sale sign goes up. The center-hall Colonial at 1006 Glenshaw Ave., across the street from the Shaw house, is now listed by Northwood Realty Service's Wexford office for $424,900.

With 5,000 square feet of living space spread over three floors, this six-bedroom house is among Lower Glenshaw's largest residences. It still has most of its turn-of-the-century architectural details despite a 20-year turn as a home for widows during the 1930s and '40s. That includes six fireplaces (three are working), stained-glass windows, 10-foot ceilings on the first floor and a Pennsylvania slate roof.

Jim and Clare Hoke, who purchased the property in 1984, say the house is thought to have been built sometime before 1920 by Dr. William Ray and his wife, Sallie. In 1930, it was sold for $1 to The Presbyterian Association for Care of Aged and Orphans for use as a home for local widows.

In bringing the house up to date, the Hokes tried not to detract from its history. For example, the full bath just off the kitchen was modernized with a self-closing Toto toilet and extra-tall sink, but it still has its original honeycomb tile floors and extra-deep soaking tub. Ditto with the second-floor bath.

One of the first things that catches a visitor's eye is a newel post lamp in the spacious foyer. Mrs. Hoke found the figurine of a woman harvesting grapes at an antique shop in The Strip District and had it rewired. Made in France, it has a nameplate that reads: "Retour des Vignes," or return of the vines.

	Rebecca Droke, Post-Gazette The formal dining room features an antique crystal chandelier. Click photo for larger image.

Even more striking is the 17- by 15-foot formal dining room, which was decorated for a previous owner by Arthur Moser Associates with a deep-red ceiling and Tartan plaid swags. Elegant details include a mirrored overmantel and an early 1900s crystal chandelier that originally hung in Mrs. Hoke's grandmother's house.

Other formal rooms on the first floor include a 17-foot-square living room that originally served as a dining room (holes in the floor once held buzzers to call the help) and a music room that holds Mr. Hoke's 130-year-old, 7-foot grand piano

Both rooms have working gas fireplaces, narrow-plank oak floors and working pocket doors that are oak on one side, mahogany on the other, to match the woodwork in the adjacent rooms.

There's also a sun room at the front of the house that's filled with plants. Originally part of the wrap-around porch, it was probably closed in sometime during the 1930s. A similar-sized room on the other side of the house is not heated and is used for storage.

The gourmet kitchen has a ceramic tile floor, cherry cabinetry, black granite countertops and slide-out drawers on either side of the fridge. The stainless-steel appliances include a five-burner, dual-fuel Kenmore Elite range with convection oven and side broiler. Two pantries -- one tucked into a closet near the back door and the other between the kitchen and the dining room -- offer plenty of storage. There's also a small butler's pantry with an original marble sink and backsplash.

The second floor contains five bedrooms, including one directly above the foyer that serves as a home office. Some have decorative slate fireplaces; others have large picture windows and original pine floors. The rear bedrooms, which overlook a large vegetable garden at the rear of the property, offer a great view of two historic Butler Plank Road structures: the old Glenshaw School and a two-story house Thomas Shaw built in 1823.

One odd note are large openings in a staircase wall. Apparently, the Presbyterian church cut them to provide access from the front of the house to a fire escape. If the buyer decides to close them, they'll find the original windows in the attic.

The third floor, formerly servants' quarters, has three bedrooms, a full bath and a bare-bones kitchen with a small sink and stove. Unfortunately, the space is not heated.

The basement includes an office and large workshop with a concrete floor. There's also a root cellar under the back porch that opens directly onto the back yard.

Situated on almost three-fourths of an acre dotted with mature sugar maples, elms and hemlocks, the property comes with two outbuildings. One is two-story carriage house that is actually much older than the house and may have been a barn on John Shaw's farm. Unheated, it is currently used for storage. The other building is a two-car garage that is believed to have been used as a laundry when it was a Presbyterian home.

Lower Glenshaw Avenue is a sociable place, Mrs. Hoke said. Neighbors routinely get together for dinners and other events. They even have their own newsletter, put out by the Preservation in Glenshaw Society.

"It's a wonderful, wonderful neighborhood," she said.