By Kevin Kirkland / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
After a halting drive up the South Side Slopes goat path known as Sterling Street, you get your reward — a panoramic view of Pittsburgh from Matt Schaefer’s upper deck.
“That’s why you do it, why you fight the hill,” he says, smiling.
Broken only slightly by the tops of a few overgrown blue spruces, the scene stretches from the Point on the left to East Liberty on the right and stars the Downtown skyline, Birmingham Bridge and the green cupola of St. Josaphat. A million-dollar penthouse view in any other city, it cost Mr. Schaefer a lot less, and today, it will cost you only $18, the price of a ticket to the 21st annual Historic South Side Home Tour.
The tour runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features 13 stops ranging from renovated Victorians to repurposed industrial spaces to a net-zero townhome.
Mr. Schaefer’s house falls somewhere in between, because it was built in 2003 on the foundation of a century-old woodframe house riddled with termites. The commercial real estate broker had intended to renovate the house but instead started from scratch, designing it himself with input from friends and family. Leading the feedback was his younger brother, Will, who was brutally honest:
“When I pulled out the drawings, he said, ‘Here we go with the can-can again!’ He thinks I’m a showoff,” Mr. Schaefer says.
Then little bro came through with a big suggestion: Why not wrap the lower deck around the side of the house?
Heeding his advice more than doubled the Trex deck’s size, left room for a dining area and reduced the still sizable yard. At 1,400 square feet, the deck boasts nearly as much space as the entire 1,800-square-foot house, with two bedrooms and 21/2 baths.
Mr. Schaefer, a bachelor, does his own cooking and decorating, again with a little help from friends. He asked nearby Emerald Art Glass to turn a leaded-glass window he found in the basement into the centerpiece of the master bathroom, which also features a skylight. On the first floor, he opted for an open layout that takes full advantage of the views and features artwork and calligraphy by Johno Prascak and his wife, Maria. Above a door and picture windows framing the city is a quote from John Ruskin:
“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us, snow is exhilarating. There is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.”
The homeowner said it’s an apt description of watching an approaching front. “When you’re sitting in this chair, you can see it coming in. It gets dark, then bang! It opens up.”
He credits the crown molding, chair rail, painting and custom bookcases with built-in wine cabinets to R.W. Ripley & Sons Construction, the decks and custom storage to Rich Lesikiewicz of Rich’s Construction and the kitchen to Johnstown Construction in his hometown. Mr. Schaefer chose gray granite counter tops and white ceramic tile for the kitchen floor, contrasting nicely with natural redwood flooring in the living room. Crescent Supply provided the bathroom fixtures.
Although Mr. Schaefer had been asked in the past to be on the house tour, he wanted to wait till the house was done. All that remains now is some landscaping. If he had to do it over, he would probably go with 9-foot ceilings instead of 8 and with all plexiglass panels rather than vinyl spindles that break up the views. But nothing can mar the house’s defining feature. Mr. Schaefer recalls how his late father, Thomas, a Brooklyn-born surgeon, loved sitting on the upper deck at night, watching the city.
“He said, ‘If you ever sell this house, you’d better show it at night!’ ”
Tickets for the Historic South Side Home tour are $18, available beginning at 9:30 a.m. today at UPMC Mercy South Side Outpatient Center, 2000 Mary St., 15203. Free parking in the UPMC employee lot, 21st and Josephine streets. Information: www.SouthSideHomeTour.com.
