Last week, I wrote about how discovering houses on the market for lower than $200,000 in a aggressive Pittsburgh actual property market, resembling this four-bedroom Victorian that shortly went below contract in Brighton Heights, may nonetheless be carried out.
This week’s Sizzling Property is one other inexpensive gem, nevertheless it’s a slightly swanky condominium in Oakland’s Hampton Corridor.
Positioned at 166 N. Dithridge St., the constructing erected in 1928 initially was designed as an residence constructing by architect H.G. Hodgkins. It options Tudor styling with rough-hewn timber particulars on its elaborate stone exterior. There’s a massive backyard surrounding the U-shaped constructing, which options 75 items over 5 flooring.
Unit 2B is a big studio with 639 sq. toes of dwelling area. Listed for $135,000 (MLS#1542862, Meg Alarcon, Howard Hanna Actual Property, howardhanna.com), it’s open by appointment.
Among the many constructing’s historic particulars are the unique elevators, which nonetheless retain their brass gates. Vintage tiles by Nemadji Tile & Pottery Firm line all the foyer and lobby flooring. (Positioned in Moose Lake, Minnesota, the corporate opened its doorways in 1923 and have become recognized for its tile and pottery created from the close by Nemadji River’s wealthy clay.)
The colourful flooring, with shades of purple, inexperienced and gold, is interspersed with tiles marked by charming figures and pictures. This, amongst a number of different options within the constructing, led to Hampton Corridor being designated a historic location by the Pittsburgh Historical past & Landmarks Basis in 1985.
Dr. Beth Oczypok has been Unit 2B’s solely resident for 13 years. Seeing the unit as a less expensive, safer different to pupil housing, she says her mother and father bought the area for her when she attended the College of Pittsburgh.
“I’m considered one of 5 children within the household. We had all gone to Oakland Catholic and my mother and father had been all the time saying that they need to purchase in Oakland,” Oczypok says. “I used to be at Pitt for 2 years and off-campus housing when my mother and pop mentioned, ‘This may be a superb time to purchase.’”
It turned out to be a superb determination. Oczypok accomplished her undergraduate diploma and went on to earn her doctorate from the college’s medical college. After her residency on the native Division of Veterans Affairs hospital system, she determined to proceed to follow in Pittsburgh.
As we speak, Oczypok says her first impression of the unit, regardless of the foyer’s heat and alluring foyer, nonetheless makes her chortle.
“We went in to have a look at it and I used to be a bit uncertain as a result of the individual that lived there earlier than me had painted all of the ceilings black and the partitions had been actually weird colours,” she says. “We heard that he was a nurse and labored the evening shift, so he needed the whole lot to be actually darkish inside.”
The condominium additionally comes with an assigned parking area in a gated lot, a bonus that gave Oczypok’s safety-conscious mother and father peace of thoughts. As well as, the unit’s month-to-month $432 upkeep charge covers care of the constructing and customary areas, in addition to water, sewage, gasoline and electrical energy.
Oczypok says her mother, who has a watch for design, oversaw renovations to the unit, which included a top-to-bottom paint job, new counter tops, a brand new rest room vainness and kitchen home equipment.
Though listed as a studio, the area has a separation between the dwelling and eating room that permits the eating space to doubtlessly be used as a bed room.
The galley kitchen additionally is helpful for entertaining. “I hosted lots; we had events on a regular basis. It’s a small area, however we made it work,” Oczypok notes. There’s additionally a rooftop deck and backyard the place the physician and her associates would take within the unbelievable sundown views.
Oczypok notes the constructing’s demographics embody a mixture of college students, younger professionals and older residents who’ve downsized. She notes the area’s location and facilities may make it enticing to numerous consumers.
“It’s handy to the colleges, the eating places, the museums, it’s nice. There’s a social committee now, they set up social occasions,” she says. “I’ve a number of fond reminiscences.”
Sizzling Property is an inside look into distinctive and historic houses in the marketplace. Every week, Sizzling Property goes behind the For Sale signal to share the story of a particular Pittsburgh-area house. And 4 occasions a 12 months, Sizzling Property provides an in-depth take a look at the area’s actual property market in Pittsburgh Journal HOME, monitoring housing costs and gross sales and detailing the place the new properties might be discovered. Rosa Colucci might be reached at onecordovaroad@gmail.com.
About: Oakland
Inhabitants: 8,663
Planes, Trains & Vehicles: A 23-minute commute to the airport. Each day transport through Port Authority. Avenue parking, bike lanes, Rideshare.
Faculties: Pittsburgh Public Faculties (pghschools.org). Magnet, neighborhood and CAPA (Inventive and Performing Arts College) accessible.
Neighborhood: Damaged into 4 zones — North, South, West and Central — Oakland is house to the biggest group of nonprofits inside Pittsburgh’s metropolis limits, together with the College of Pittsburgh, hospitals and a number of other historic church buildings. The Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh’s principal campus, the Carnegie Music Corridor and Phipps Conservatory are nationwide sights that anchor the doorway to Schenley Park, one of many metropolis’s crown jewels. A vibrant restaurant scene exists in a number of completely different enterprise districts, amongst them North Craig Avenue, Fifth, Forbes and Centre avenues.