modern 2.0
They dared to update a Tasso Katselas house in Churchill
Would you dare to update the work of architect Tasso Katselas?
Joe Kotelnicki and Michael O’Brien did, and won an award for it.
The couple was named runner-up in the 2018 Renovation Inspiration Contest, large residential category, for their tweak of the interior of this 1960-built house in Churchill, one of a dozen houses Mr. Katselas designed on this and an adjacent street. In fact, the architect himself lived next door in a house of his own design.
The biggest changes were in the kitchen, which now has bright blue tile, quartz and lighted glass counters and bamboo cabinets with horizontal pulls. It suits the house’s mid-century modern style yet fits a 21st-century lifestyle, which includes induction cooking, convection baking, LED lighting and a faucet that flows when it’s touched.
Contest judges from the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Design Center Pittsburgh found more subtle changes in the adjacent dining room and living room, including new ceramic tile flooring with radiant heat, a woodburning fireplace converted to gas and more bamboo cabinetry with glass doors to show off vintage and modern glassware.
An expandable glasstopped dining table and modern furniture complete the redesign.
“I had always planned to redo the kitchen,” said Mr. O’Brien, who bought the house in 1994. “It took almost 20 years to do it.”
The impetus was a torrential rainstorm in May 2002 that overwhelmed the drains in the house’s flat roof. A waterfall poured into the dining room and front windows, ruining carpeting, grasscloth wall coverings and plaster walls and ceilings.
The kitchen renovation began when Mr. Kotelnicki moved in in 2008. The veteran teacher at an elementary school in Indiana County did not bring many design ideas to the project, but he has helped find lighting and other items online. Sometimes that saved money.
“I’m a visionary but I can spend a lot of money fast,” Mr. O’Brien admitted.
They haven’t calculated the full amount spent on the project, which also included a new back patio and updates to all three bathrooms. The contest’s large residential category is for renovations of over $50,000.
“The whole idea was to make it our home,” Mr. Kotelnicki said.
The couple praised lead carpenter Dave Ligo and owners Steve and Barry Erenrich of Patete Kitchen & Bath Design Center for executing and improving his kitchen plan. They also credited John Barbera, designer/project manager for Penner & Associates, with designing their new covered patio with a fireplace and built-in gas grill.
The idea was to mirror on the outside the interior dining and living space. The patio is especially useful when the couple entertain. They have had as many as 65 friends and neighbors over for parties and up to 50 family members and friends for their celebration of Russian Orthodox Easter.
“That was Michael’s vision,” Mr. Kotelnicki said. “Because the back of the house is all windows, the outside becomes your artwork. The outdoor living room is an extension of the one inside.”