Ben Avon house looks like it was torn out of catalog
“The Alhambra, No. 2099, Mission style. Already cut and fitted.” $1,969.
In 1915, that nominal sum would buy you a four-bedroom, one-bath home that included stucco siding, yellow pine floors, a fireplace, all interior and exterior molding and even special closets for hats in the bedrooms.
Straight from the Sears Modern Home mail-order catalog, the Alhambra became one of Sears’ most popular kit homes, with “an interior arrangement (that) will appeal to anyone who likes massiveness and plenty of room,”
It appealed instantly to Kathy Elder and her late husband, Gene.
“We had lived in Ben Avon earlier, left for a year and came back. The minute I saw it, it was something we wanted. It had the space. We moved in 1984, raised three children there.”
After 38 years, she is selling the house at 6830 Church St. in Ben Avon for $299,000 (MLS No. 1382397) through Rachel Wisniewski of Stonebridge Real Estate (www.stonebridgere.com or 412766-1663). An open house will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.
Special features for this model included a second-floor balcony, front porch, solarium and dormer windows. The house still closely resembles an old Sears advertisement right down to the stucco, which Mrs. Elder had redone in 2018.
“Through the years, people would stop and ask about the house. I told them it was a Sears house. There are quite a few around here,” she said.
A long set of steps leads to a front terrace and 12-by-7-foot covered porch that is a great gathering place. The 15-by-10-foot entry — the solarium — has a ceramic tile floor.
The house’s floor plan is very close to the original with one exception.
“The previous owner put in a bathroom where the back steps to the second floor used to be,” Mrs. Elder said. “There is a little powder room with a sink and a toilet.”
The 15-by-20-foot living room has a brick fireplace and large windows. The 15-by-14-foot dining room has the original bump-out for the sideboard. All of the first floor is carpeted, but the original yellow pine floors are intact underneath.
The model’s 12-by-12-foot kitchen had a large trough sink, a potbelly stove and a pull-down ironing board. This kitchen was updated in the 1950s with steel St. Charles cabinets that remain in excellent condition.
The Chicago-based cabinet company was a favorite of post-World War II Americans. Steel production had been ramped up for wartime weaponry and after the war, cabinetry was one of the industries that made use of it. St. Charles cabinets appeared in many decorating magazines, and its salesmen traveled door-to-door with sample doors in various colors.
Today’s lovers of midcentury modern design seek out St. Charles cabinets for their vintage remodels. These kitchen cabinets are painted pastel yellow, a popular color, and include a bread box drawer. There is also a fairly new dishwasher and gas stove.
The staircase leading to the second floor is on the right side of the home rather than in the center. “This saves 33 percent in building fees,” according to the Sears ad.
The four bedrooms upstairs range in size from the 8 by 11 feet to 14½ by 11½ feet. There is a full bath.
Pine paneling and a vinyl floor finish the 11-by-24-foot game room in the basement. Ann Regan, Mrs. Elder’s daughter, said a wall at the bottom of the steps separates the finished and unfinished areas.
The house has a side patio with covered awning, a twocar detached garage, central air conditioning, a security system and forced-air gas heating. There is a home warranty.
The property’s Allegheny County assessed value is $199,800. Over the past four years, four houses have sold in the 6800 block of Church Street for prices ranging from $121,000 in September 2018 to $250,000 in March 2019 (www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/realestate/).
This house is a neighborhood landmark, Ms. Regan said.
“It was known as the Mexican house. My mom taught in the school district so people were here all the time and everyone came because it was a comforting house.”