NYSB Construction business partners Mike Edwards and Ryan Klimovich have a passion for renovating and restoring old Pittsburgh homes; among the finest of them is 6354 Aurelia St.
The partners recently spent eight months restoring the Shadyside Victorian to perfection. Built in 1906, the home is one of six identical houses lined up side-by-side on the one-way block. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom property also includes many of NYSB’s hallmark touches, such as brass fixtures, glass door handles and new oak floors.
The Aurelia Street home is now on the market for $1.25 million (MLS# 1611789, Kaedi Knepshield, Piatt Sotheby’s International Realty, sothebysrealty.com). It is open by appointment; an open house also is set to take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 8.
Edwards says that throughout his seven-year partnership with Klimovich, each of their projects begins with a walkthrough.
Aurelia Street was no exception.
“We do everything together when it comes to walking through the space,” he says. “We like to take it down to a blank slate and try to modernize the space as much as possible while keeping with the character of the home and the history of the home. It’s pretty important to us.”
Because the home’s most recent residents lived there for 37 years, 6354 Aurelia Street was kept intact as a single-family residence.
“The home needed some love,” Edwards says. “These opportunities don’t come around every day. It takes a lot of time, a lot of sweat and you can’t skimp out on the capital side either; you just have to keep going.”
The partners took the home down to the studs then rebuilt the home’s operating systems — including electric, plumbing and HVAC — and replaced the walls and floors, all while finishing the rooms to reflect the home’s original character.
“We build a house within a house,” Edwards says. “It’s very costly; it’s why a lot of Shadyside houses don’t get done.”
The home’s yellow brick exterior now wears a fresh coat of Colonial Blue paint that’s paired with bright white trim. Unlike the neighboring homes on either side, this building still has the original front porch, fish-scale shingles and arched window details.
The home’s double front doors open to a small vestibule. Edwards says the second door actually was procured from Construction Junction in North Point Breeze, then retrofitted to the house.
Inside are the original wall panel details, rails and spindle staircase. Underfoot are new subfloors and ¾-inch oak hardwood. Edwards says the wall paneling was used throughout as a design template for the home’s restored door casings, baseboards and detail trim.
“Ryan’s been a carpenter since he was 18, so he likes to take the lead on a lot of the details such as trim,” Edwards says. “We both agreed with the brushed gold fixtures and some mixed metals.”
Some of the home’s walls were expanded, while others were removed, supported or reframed. A wider opening was restored from the entry leading to the living room, which contains a paneled accent wall and a modern ceiling fan.
The dining room was blended into the newly opened kitchen thanks to the addition of a coffered ceiling.
“We wanted to add more dimension and depth; it was calling for it,” Edwards says. “If you don’t add that dimension, it just becomes one big box.”
Edwards notes how important it is to him to define a home’s spaces. While open-concept spaces dominated design styles prior to the coronavirus pandemic, designated living areas once again found popularity during 2020’s stay-at-home orders. Besides giving privacy, walls also serve a functional purpose, Edwards says.
“When you have no walls, you have to run the duct work out farther, create more angles,” he says. “It does not help the efficiency of the house.”
The kitchen also has a modern, black-and-brass candelabra chandelier that ties in with the espresso-stained, four-seat custom island and brass fixtures. The white perimeter cabinets are enhanced by a custom millwork range hood as well as a detailed backsplash and a brass pot-filler located in the wall above the premium-grade, Thor oven range.
The home’s interior doors were replaced with solid-core doors with glass hardware knobs and brass faceplates. A powder room and laundry room also are located on the first floor.
The solid oak floors continue on the second floor, which also hosts the expanded primary suite that was built out with a tray ceiling and walk-in closet. The custom bathroom also houses a free-standing soaking tub with a brass tub filler, a walk-in shower and double-bowl vanity with gold accents.
“I was able to grab the laundry room, part of the bedroom and small closet,” Edwards says of reconfiguring space for the primary bathroom. “The layout changed three or four times as we moved pieces around to get the right feel for the space.”
The tub eventually landed in front of a pair of windows, where a church steeple is viewable in the distance. Other luxury touches include radiant heat floors and a private water closet.
Two more second-floor bedrooms are serviced by a hallway bathroom. On the third floor are another pair of bedrooms, plus an office and a bathroom. The spacious rooms have tall dormer ceilings and carpeted floors. The third floor also has its own HVAC system controlled by a Nest thermostat system.
“We eliminated a few windows that weren’t needed to create the bath and the office,” Edwards says. “It has a nice space to do whatever you want up there.”
In the rear of the home is a fenced-in yard and a newly poured, three-car cement parking pad.
Looking back at his company’s work on the home over the last year, Edwards says the space he fell in love with most is the primary suite, with the kitchen as a close second.
“Neither space had to sacrifice usability in order for design to take center stage,” he says. “We always try to lean toward functional ability over trendy design. People have to live in these houses, and it’s just so balanced.”
Drawing on her years of experience covering the region’s real estate industry, Rosa Colucci’s Hot Property takes an inside look into unique and historic homes currently on the market. Each week, Hot Property goes behind the For Sale sign to share the story of a special Pittsburgh area home. And four times a year, Hot Property will give an in-depth look at the region’s real estate market in Pittsburgh Magazine HOME, track housing prices and sales and detail where the hot properties can be found. Rosa can be reached at onecordovaroad@gmail.com.
About: Shadyside
Population: 10,995
Planes, Trains & Automobiles: A 25-minute commute to the airport; Daily transport via Pittsburgh Regional Transit, East Busway; Dedicated city bike lanes on major arteries; Rideshare, street parking.
Schools: City of Pittsburgh (pghschools.org)
Neighborhood: Long one of the most desirable city neighborhoods to live in, Shadyside is home to Victorian mansions cozied up alongside modern apartments and upscale new construction. Eclectic and distinctive, the neighborhood features three business districts — Ellsworth Avenue, Walnut Street, and South Highland Avenue— where art galleries, small businesses and trendy restaurants sit alongside coffee shops and national retailers. The house is just down the street from a massive construction project, in which an old Giant Eagle grocery store and strip mall are being replaced by a six-story mixed-used building featuring five floors with 231 apartments and street-level retail. There also will be a 36,000-square-foot Giant Eagle Market District built; the project is expected to be completed in late 2024. The house also sits across the street from the Village of Shadyside, a planned residential community with 84 townhouses and 41 condominiums.
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