Tag Archives: houses

The Multrup Steel Mansion is still for sale. Open house on Sat 1/20. Now $49,000 or less!

Sooo…. who is up for a little road trip to Beaver Falls this weekend!

I’ve been noticing that the two previous posts on the Moltrup Steel Mansion have been getting a lot of visits recently. So I thought I would check back and see if this house was still for sale.

The Multrup Steel Mansion located at 914 8th Ave is still for sale and the price has been reduced to $49,000. There is a new listing agent for the property, Carol Tomayko, her team has been very responsive to questions.

You can read a history of the Moltrup Steel Mansion on our previous post here.

The house has been featured on several old house blogs and you can read some of the comments on Old House Dreams to learn more about the current condition of the house. Long story short… not good.

Here are a few notes from comments left by Philip Poburka who toured the home over the summer:

“One of the thing I noticed which has not been mentioned are the tension failures in some areas of the Masonry, which have occurred from the Home’s differential settling over time.”
“There is no Wood in any of the construction, other than for the small and modest Back Porch, and, of course, the Sash Windows and Interior Wood Moldings and Paneling and Stair Treads and.”
“Let alone, all the lovely Wood work which has not ever had any second coats of varnish or other finish.”

914 8th Ave, Beaver Falls Open House This Saturday

I have just confirmed with the listing agent that there is an open house at 914 8th Ave, Beaver Falls for this Saturday, January 20 from 1-4pm.

Price Drop $49,900 or Less?

The realtor has also told me that while the price is listed at $49,900, the property is now in foreclosure and the bank intends to sell the home via auction in the next few weeks.

See more photos and learn more about 914 8th Ave:

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Giovannitti House & Pittsburgh Modern

Update: Visit Very Local Pittsburgh for an updated version of this story.

Most of the houses that surround Chatham University on Woodland Road, look the same, a version of a brick Tudor-style house. Even if you cannot see into the houses, you just sense that the interiors of theses house have lots of woodwork and some heavy draperies covering each window. But there is one house on Woodland Road that stands out from the Tudor line up. If you have driven down Woodland Road, you have likely seen the Giovannitti House.

Photo credit: Coldwell Banker.

I don’t believe this house has a historic designation, but it is such a unique building that it is worth sharing for preservation month. The house was designed by architect Richard Meier, and was built 1979-1983.

In 2013, someone started making a documentary about this house. I don’t know if they ever completed the entire episode but the trailer offers a look inside the house and an introduction to the owners, who were moving back into the house after having been away.

You can read more about the Giovannitti house here:

Painting With Light: A modern classic by Richard Meier, Pittsburgh Quarterly, Winter 2012
Giovannitti House, Galinsky

While researching this house, I came across the Pittsburgh Modern website, which has a detailed list of other modern buildings around Pittsburgh. It looks like the site has not been updated in a few years, in spite of that it is still a good starting point to learn more about modern architecture and architects in Pittsburgh.

I am not sure if they are currently living there, the house was put up for sale in June 2016. The Coldwell Banker site lists the house as currently “under contract.”

May is Preservation Month

If you like Pittsburgh history, you might be interested in reading about these buildings and preservation organizations:

Pittsburgh House Blogs

For those of you who like browsing photos of houses around town – take a look at this post that I wrote for Habilu.com – which includes a list 5 Pittsburgh house blogs to check out.

Habilu.com is a new Pittsburgh startup that helps you find the best real estate agent for buying or selling your home. If you are a looking to buy a house (or sell a house) take a moment to create a profile on Habilu.

If you are looking for more on Pittsburgh house histories you can pick up a copy of Rick Sebak‘s DVD Houses Around Here.