Harry Potter’s penthouse in Angel’s Arms
Ted Steliotes envisioned a home with things he loves — the muted earth tone colors of ocean pebbles, Gothic architecture and the etched stained-glass windows he collected for years. But he had no place to put them.
In the mid-2000s, he saw a big, open empty space under the tower of what used to be St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church and rectory on Pius Street in the South Side.
“I fell in love with the space,” he said.
Built in 1861, the historic building was repurposed in 2004 as 26 condominiums and renamed Angel’s Arms.
The brick-and-stone Romanesquebuilding at the top of the South Side Slopes “looked like a Harry Potter church,” he said, referring to the fictional boy wizard. So he bought a condo and designed a two-bedroom, 2½-bath penthouse apartment with high ceilings, multiple balconies with sweeping views of the city, and many unusual touches, including custom-dyed red hardwood floors and a Harry Potter bedroom with a built-in queen-sized bed for his young son.
“It looks like it would be a dorm room” at the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry in Scotland, Steliotes said.
His builder was Take Pride Construction and Design.
Steliotes, 56, lived in the condo happily for 16 years. Then, a month ago, he put the 2,500-square-foot condominiumon the rental market for $3,650 per month. It is being rented fully furnished and has two indoor parking spaces.
“I love the penthouse. It was great for entertaining,” he said, which is why it’s for rent and not for sale.
“It was a great place to start a family,” but now that his son, Leonidas, is 7, Steliotes decided a suburban house with a big yard would be better for a growing boy.
Last year, he bought a big Victorian in Ben Avon, and spent 11 monthsrehabbing and redesigning it before moving in recently. Leonidas splits his time between the homes of his father and mother, who are divorced.
When Steliotes talks about designing and decorating the penthouse, he sounds more like an artist than the dentist that he is. Growing up in Mt. Lebanon (where his father, Dean, owned The Colony restaurant), he dreamed of being an artist, “but I didn’t want to be a starving artist.”
So he became a dentist, “which I think involves artistry.” He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh dental school in 1991 and now owns Steliotes Dental Spa in Peters, Washington County.
In dental school, he started collecting stained-glass windows, and Editor: put them in storage. When St. Michael Church closed in 1993, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh removed statues and other religious articles, including the windows. Steliotes had his own stained glass installed as part of his condo’s interior design.
The Harry Potter bedroom, custom-designed for Leonidas, has an arched window. Red velvet curtains from an old theater frame the bed designed by Artemis in Lawrenceville. The bedroom is one of several areas that hasthe red hardwood floor.
“The paint was customcreated by Sherwin-Williams, Steliotes said. “Through the gorgeous red you can see all of the grain.”
Other living areas have painted hardwood floors that were extensively air brushed so the grain is visible.
The condo has central airconditioning, concrete countertops and modern appliances, including a dishwasher, microwave, range, refrigerator and a washer and dryer.
The master bedroom suite has a large walk-in closet and bathroom along with an adjoining den. The rooftop balcony has two decks and a smaller “princess deck” off the living room.
Colors used throughout the apartment were inspired bya trip that Steliotes took to California’s Napa Valley.
“I picked up a bunch of pebbles at the beach. They were muted earth tones of blue, green, gray and taupe and I used those colors” on walls and furniture, he said.
Steliotes said the penthouse has been used in several movies, but he could not remember their names. He has written six children’s books, available on Amazon, with proceeds going to The Smile Train, which provides free surgery to children with cleft palates.
To schedule a tour of the penthouse, call OLBucci Community Services at 412 -329-8686 or Lynne Bingham of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services at 412-855-9154.