No place like North Side for the holidays
Erik VanBuren has been a docent on the Old Allegheny Victorian Christmas House Tour several times. As he told visitors about the history of grand old North Side houses, a sweet vision danced in his head -- him leading a tour of his own home.
This year, well before Christmas morning, his dream has come true.
“It is so special to have my own house on the tour,” he said.
The Italianate-style house he shares with Drew Gorenz is one of six that will be open from 5-8 p.m. Dec. 8 and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Dec. 9 for the 36th annual walking tour of the historic Allegheny West neighborhood. Groups leave every 12 minutes from Calvary United Methodist Church and for an extra fee, tour-goers can also see a toy train museum at Holmes Hall. Reserved times are required.
When visitors enter, they will see Mr. VanBuren and Mr. Gorenz singing Christmas carols and Mr. Gorenz playing the grand piano (he also plays cello and upright bass and sings in the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh). One of the house’s three decorated trees is in the corner of the music room, next to an ornate fireplace mantel decorated with ornaments and greens. Decorating is Mr. Gorenz’s specialty.
“If Drew had his way, this house would look like Santa’s workshop,” his husband jokes. “We’ve reached a happy medium.”
They were already living in Allegheny West when they discovered the owner was thinking of selling this house built in 1867 for selfemployed tailor Thomas Lyons and his wife, Nancy. Knowing they’d have to move fast in this popular neighborhood, they began negotiations with the owner. They moved in two years ago and had to do only minor cosmetic work, a bonus in a house that turned 150 years old this year.
After just a month in their new home, they threw a combination housewarming/Christmas party for 100 family and friends.
“I don’t know what we were thinking!” said Mr. Gorenz, who grew up in Irwin.
The pine floors are covered with oriental rugs, and the furniture is a mix of antiques, new pieces and heirlooms, including the 1930s Chippendale mahogany dining set that Mr. VanBuren’s grandparents used for holidays in West Middlesex, where he grew up. Nearly every room has an original fireplace and a happy house plant or two.
A Sago palm and blooming peace lily share the dining room, a 50-year-old umbrella tree sprouts new leaves in the sitting room and a fiddle-leaf fig tree looms over the Mason & Hamlin piano that Mr. VanBuren bought from the late Alex Watson, the granddaddy of North Side rehabbers.
Mr. VanBuren was a University of Pittsburgh student when someone suggested he look for an apartment here. “I said, ‘The North Side? Oh, it’s so bad over there.’ Then I came over and fell in love.”
A registered nurse and addiction specialist for Gateway Health, Mr. VanBuren moved to Las Vegas for seven years, then returned. He was living in an apartment Mr. Watson owned on Lincoln Avenue when he got his first glimpse of the Christmas house tour, which benefits the Allegheny West Civic Council (alleghenywest.org)
“I walked down in the lobby and there were 100 people there,” he recalls.
He volunteered to help and worked as a docent several times. “I was a great door opener,” he says, laughing.
It will be handy skill to have when more than 1,500 people show up at his door Dec. 8-9.
“I said, ‘The North Side? Oh, it’s so bad over there.’ Then I came over and fell in love.” — Erik Van Buren