When urbanites brag about their fabulous city views, they're usually talking about a home nestled high above the city. The vista from the formal living room of Brad Walter and Tom Hambor's exquisitely restored townhouse in Deutschtown is almost as spectacular as any from Mount Washington.

OK, so the floor-to-ceiling windows that so beautifully frame everything are two stories up from the sidewalk. But it's a beautiful sight all the same, exceeded only by the one from the third-story master suite or the fourth-story guest room.

"We get the whole panorama," Mr. Walter says with pride, adding that it's a mirror image of the city backdrop pictured behind Kelsey Grammer in the new Fox TV show "Back to You."

The North Side townhouse -- one of eight properties open Sept. 30 for the 2007 Deutschtown House Tour -- would be impressive even without its views. Its high-ceilinged rooms boast an engaging mix of colors, shapes and textures, including a coffee table in the shape of a crocodile.

Even more amazing, its only one of two houses the couple own. The other is their "country house" in Penn Hills, built in 1750 and a work in progress for the two men, who together own Food Glorious Food in Highland Park.

The four-story townhouse in Deutschtown was a burned-out shell when Mr. Walter purchased it in 2004 from the East Allegheny Community Council. Today, this 4,000-square-foot home is the very definition of urban chic.

The living room, in particular, dazzles with an eclectic mix of Asian and American antiques. A hand-painted Tibetan chest stores some of the couple's crystal, set against persimmon-colored walls. In the corner, a reverse-painted lamp crafted by Tiffany contemporary Philip Handel in the late 1800s casts a rosy glow.

"It was in the family forever," Mr. Walter says, adding, "Everyone hated it!"

Downstairs in the ground-floor family room, dark Oriental rugs and a clubby green couch play off bright-white open shelving filled to bursting with cookbooks, photos, Chinese porcelain and every manner of knick-knack. More collectibles decorate an antique sideboard that came out of a jewelry shop in the South Side.

As you walk through the family room, your eye is drawn like a magnet to the fire engine-red kitchen. It's a bit contemporary for a place that otherwise screams "Victorian," with stainless-steel appliances and glossy IKEA cabinetry. But, man, what a space!

"We figured, the house is so big, we could take one room," says Mr. Hambor, a pastry chef.

It certainly a stark contrast to the kitchen addition in the house in Penn Hills, which they're still in the process of finishing. Like their "city house," it was a fixer-upper. Mr. Walter, who has renovated a dozen houses, purchased it in October. At the time, composite shingles covered its stone exterior and all of the interior walls were hidden beneath at least 6 inches of "stuff" -- paneling, horsehair plaster, drywall or many layers of wallpaper.

"We just knew there was stone underneath," says Mr. Hambor, who removed it layer by layer, then tenderly cleaned the exposed stone with acid and sealed it.

Used for the pair's private cooking classes and corporate training, this kitchen is just as well-equipped as the one in Deutschtown. However, the feel is much more laid-back, with sandstone counter tops and rows of open shelving groaning under a mix of stoneware, baskets, Chinese dishes and copper kettles. A large arched window over the sink offers a view of the woods. Eventually, Mr. Hambor says, they'll build a barn and an outdoor kitchen there.

The main part of the house --an eating area and living room -- is equally rustic. It's warmed by wide-width pine floors (new, from Amish country) and a pair of original stone fireplaces. They also carefully matched the red paint from the original window sills. While the cooking crane in the fireplace is a reproduction, the eye hook on which pots and kettles would have been suspended is original.

Because they frequently entertain, Mr. Hambor and Mr. Walter turned the paneled addition at the front of the house into a formal dining room. Now a crisp white, it holds an 1800s table that comfortably seats 12.

The second-floor bath holds a walk-in shower built from stones that stonesmith Michael Kraus, who's also curator of Soldiers & Sailors Military Museum in Oakland, pulled out of a nearby creek bed.

It's quite a departure from the North Side house, but that's the point of a weekend home, isn't it? To escape to another world.

"We all like to live in nice homes and be surrounded with the things we love," says Mr. Walter. "And that's easier to do in an old house."