Renovation lets the sun shine into old Isaly's in Lawrenceville
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The kitchen/living room in the Lawrenceville building of Rebecca Morris and Brian Mendelssohn that was runner-up in the Renovation Inspiration Contest. -
Rebecca Morris and Brian Mendelssohn in front of their renovated building in Lawrenceville. -
Tim and Annie Finucan with week-old Owen in the living room of the Lawrenceville building of Rebecca Morris and Brian Mendelssohn. -
A 1958 photo shows the Isaly''s at the corner of Butler and 43rd streets in Lawrenceville. It is now the Wild Card store.
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From Skyscraper cones to sky-baring windows, from chip-chopped ham to sandblasted brick, this 125-year-old building in Lawrenceville has undergone a transformation.
For 75 years, it was an Isaly's. Now, thanks to Brian Mendelssohn, it is a funky commercial space for his wife's store and two large bright apartments with a modern-industrial flair that's as delightful to old building lovers as an Isaly's shake was to legions of Pittsburgh kids.
"I wanted it to blend in historically with a hint of sexiness. It came out better than I was hoping for," says the 33-year-old principal of Botero Development.
It was also better than all but two entries in the 2009-10 Renovation Inspiration Contest sponsored by the Post-Gazette and Community Design Center of Pittsburgh. The apartments above Rebecca Morris' WildCard store on Butler Street between 42nd and 43rd streets were chosen as a runner-up in the large project category (costing more than $50,000).
In fact, Mr. Mendelssohn spent about $400,000 on top of the building's $140,000 purchase price in 2008. Some of that was for renovation of the store space, which boasts 16-foot original tin ceilings crisscrossed by track lighting and exposed plumbing that is actually sprinklers.
As much as Mr. Mendelssohn is proud of the commercial space, he says "the upstairs is the best part."
Reached by a new set of wooden stairs, the rear apartment seems at first to be a series of small rooms linked by a low hallway. But then the kitchen/dining room/great room space comes into view. With 14-foot ceilings, exposed old brick, refinished pine floors and 12-foot-high west-facing windows, it's brightly lit even with no lights on a gray winter day.
The light -- and views -- are even better when you climb the stairs to the loft bedroom.
Light streams through a window 20 feet wide and 91/2 feet high, with a door leading to a 25-by-10-foot deck. Whether you're looking out over gritty Lawrenceville or down into the great room, the space seems much larger than 1,450 feet, with two bedrooms and two baths.
First Published February 13, 2010 12:00 am
