Junior League designers show house planned in Wilkinsburg
After an 11-year hiatus, the Junior League of Pittsburgh will again create a show house whose rooms are decorated by local designers.
From May 4-20, the Junior League will offer tours of the former Yingling mansion in Wilkinsburg. Built in 1905, the 6,200square-foot Georgian Revivalstyle house at 1300 Wood St. was last used as the Gibbs Personal Care Home. It closed in 2014 and was purchased in 2016.
Junior League president Madeline Wahl said the 95-year-old charitable organization has been trying to find a house for designers to transform since its last show house in Squirrel Hill in 2007. The hard part was not finding an appropriate house; it was getting homeowners to give free rein to decorators.
“This one sort of found us,” she said, explaining that a friend of the house’s new owner knew someone at the Junior League.
Ms. Wahl has toured the house and said the owner has uncovered original flooring, mantels and three pocket doors. Contractors also found the remains of a plate rail in the dining room.
The house was built for Roswell Gardner Yingling (1853-1922), a Pittsburgh coal and brick dealer who was originally from Clarion County, according WikiTree.com. He and his wife, the former Marion Milliken Whitehill, had four children and a second home in Coral Gables, Fla.
After the family sold the house, it was used as a hospital and the Miller Convalescent Home before becoming a personal care home.
The Junior League is currently seeking interior designers for each of the home’s 30 rooms. Designers who wish to take part can tour the home from 1-4 p.m. Tuesday. Reserve a spot by emailing info@jlpgh.org.
Proceeds from “A Window into Wilkinsburg” will help to end food insecurity in the East End by supporting Junior League partnerships with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and school backpack feeding programs. Information: jlpgh.org.