In a former Lutheran church in East Pittsburgh, an artist crafts a home and studio
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Artist Dan Riccobon converted this former Lutheran church on Linden Ave. in East Pittsburgh into his home and studio. -
The former sanctuary is now a large open living space, with the old altar making home for a huge Christmas tree. -
The former sanctuary is now a large open living space, with the kitchen tucked into a corner under the former choir loft. -
The former choir loft is now his bedroom, open to the living space below. -
A small room off the former alter is an eclectic mix of his art, including Frankenstein, Jack Lambert's head and a painting of Riccobon in a gorilla suit. -
Dan Riccobon converted the bell tower into a small sitting area reached by a spiral stairway that overlooks the former Westinghouse plant. -
Artist Dan Riccobon crafted his own custom tiles for his master bath.
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Here's the church.
Up there was the steeple.
Open it up and there's ... no people.
Unless, of course, it's party time at Dan Riccobon's house, the former Emanuel Lutheran Church in East Pittsburgh.
He bought the brick building in 1998 from a congregation that by then had dwindled to about 40 elderly members, and he's spent much of his free time over the past dozen years converting it into his home and studio.
It's an artful renovation to which Giordano Riccobon has brought his woodworking, ceramic and decorative painting skills and an aesthetic inspired by trips to Venice and his native Trieste.
After World War II, his family's farm overlooking the Adriatic Sea fell on the Yugoslavian side of the Morgan Line demarcation.
"They just came one day and told my dad he had to go. We could wait 10 years for housing or go to the United States," where an aunt and uncle awaited them in Pittsburgh.
Mario Riccobon, his pregnant wife Silvia and their four children immigrated in 1951.
"A lot of what I do, whether it's in the building here or in my artwork, is rooted in the continuous lineage of history," he said, a commitment reinforced on return visits to Italy's ancient steps and fountains worn smooth, where he overhears the same conversations from Italians perched on them.
"It's one never-ending ribbon of time."
In East Pittsburgh, acting as architect, contractor, carpenter and interior designer, Mr. Riccobon has done most of the work himself, from removing the rotting steeple to building the bathroom and kitchen to painting the ceiling of the nave, on his back on a scaffold, with the constellations and the creatures that inspired them.
The result is a sweet, magical, handcrafted space suffused with warmth and a playful spirit of creativity.
"I was giddy when I first moved in," said Mr. Riccobon, a painter and retired Woodland Hills art teacher.
By then, some of the biggest jobs were behind him, including rewiring the building, vacuuming soot from the attic and insulating it, and installing a shower in the basement.
"It was a long two years traveling back and forth working on the weekends, I can tell you that."
But what a difference.
For more than 20 years, "I lived in Regent Square in a little tiny third-floor apartment you could hardly stand up in."
The congregation that built Emanuel Lutheran Church pretty much lived and died with the Westinghouse plant just across the street.
First Published February 19, 2011 12:00 am
