Mainstay B&B
You can buy a piece of Saxonburg’s Germanic past
If you are looking for applause after you buy a property, consider the Mainstay Bed & Breakfast at 214 W. Main St. in Saxonburg. The 183-year-old building was vacant when Brian Oxendale and James Stanek bought it 11 years ago.
“When the news was announced at the Saxonburg Area Business Association that it was sold, we got a standing ovation,” Mr. Oxendale said, laughing.
They have listed the four-bedroom, 4½-bath inn for $395,000 (MLS No. 1359630) with Ron Huber of the Carol Tomayko Team at RE/MAX Alliance Realty (412-879-0289 or www.remax.com).
The price includes space now occupied and leased by a restaurant, What’s Cooking on Main, and an apartment above the restaurant. Both provide rental income for buyers.
Built in 1835, the building has been a bed and breakfast for more than two decades.
“The two previous owners ran it as a B&B,” said Mr. Oxendale, who did construction and management while Mr. Stanek handled design and hospitality.
The building is nearly as old as this Butler County borough, which was founded as a German farming colony in 1832 by brothers F. Carl and John
A. Roebling. The younger Roebling, an engineer, laid out the town and later became famous for the Brooklyn Bridge and other wire suspension bridges.
Originally built for the Helmbold family, the building was turned into a store run by William Berger in the early 1900s. George Aderhold, the founder of Saxonburg Ceramics, lived there in the 1930s and started his business in the back.
It is one of 54 buildings in the Saxonburg Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. That status means owners cannot alter the facade but can make changes to the other three sides, the current owners said.
They have tried to remain faithful to the house’s original architecture, which includes front windows that are not completely symmetrical.
“When we redid the place, we had the old moldings replicated at Mars Lumber,” Mr. Oxendale said, adding that three additions were made at different times by previous owners.
“We tried to tie everything together to make it flow better and look more unified,” he said.
Renovations and additions included the restaurant space and the kitchen, which contains a butcher block from the nearby Hotel Saxonburg.
“It’s not included in the price, but it could be negotiated,” Mr. Oxendale said.
The inn’s two public rooms are the lounge and the library, which has a coffered ceiling and gas-burning fireplace. The four guest rooms upstairs each have a different theme.
“The Pine Suite is named for the pine four-poster bed that came with the house,” Mr. Oxendale said.
The Safari Room has a zebra skin rug that came from a Mellon estate sale.
“We have had guests stay from all over the world,” Mr. Oxendale said.
He and Mr. Stanek are heading to a warmer climate, but they have had a wonderful time running the business.
“We get a lot of sibling gettogethers or girlfriend getaways, and they come here just to be together,” he said.
Guests also come for weddings at nearby Armstrong Farms.
“We are really hoping someone who wants to run a B&B will buy it,” said Mr. Huber, the real estate agent. “However, since this was originally a single-family home it is grandfathered in and it can be converted back to that.”
Mr. Oxendale said he will miss this building and the business.
“Ron [Huber] says there are no tears in real estate, but I said there will be tears with this transaction.”