He has 46 years of sweet sweat equity invested in 1835 house in Ross
When Edward Maslanka bought this 1835 red-brick house, he made a promise to the sister of its longtime owner that he would “maintain its integrity.”
Forty-six years later, he’s still working to keep that promise.
Mr. Maslanka, 75, calculates that he has spent more than 11,000 hours working on this three-story house in Ross with a two-story Victorian porch, and that doesn’t include outdoor work on its 2.7 acres. He started a journal on Nov. 5, 1972, the week he and his late wife, Carol, moved in. It’s now 58 pages, each page detailing a project and how many hours he spent on it.
For his dedication, judges from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Construction Junction decided to give Maslanka a special award in the 2019 Renovation Inspiration Contest. In 13 years of judging the contest honoring well-done rehabs, we couldn’t remember anyone who had worked so hard and so long on one house.
He rebuilt its wooden box gutters and lined them with aluminum. He replaced rotting window sills and lintels, saving old six-over-six-pane sashes with wavy glass when he could and installing new vinyl windows when he couldn’t. He sandblasted and repointed the brick exterior. He put on a two-story addition in the back, adding bathrooms, bedrooms, a pantry and three skylights.
He didn’t learn these skills while working 10 different jobs, including 15 years in the Allegheny County property assessment office. He learned by doing. Mr. Maslanka credits “Polish ingenuity” and his father George’s advice.
“He always said: ‘If someone else can do it, so can you.’ I might not do it right the first time, but I can do it.”
Mr. Maslanka has also done research on the property. In 1819, John Nelson paid Hugh Davis $700 for 100 acres. According to distant relatives who visited the house years ago, Nelson emigrated from Northern Ireland, married the former Anne Allen in Philadelphia and crossed the Allegheny Mountains on horseback with his wife and infant son.
Nelson built this house in 1835 using bricks made from local clay fired on the property. It had four fireplaces and a Franklin stove on the third floor that was still there when Mr. Maslanka bought it. In 1857, Nelson sold 21 acres to his son William and two years later, sold the house and 21 acres to his other son, Thomas. He died that same year, 1859. The street it’s on, Nelson Run Road, is named for the family.
Mr. Maslanka grew up nearby
and made an offer when the house sat vacant after the death of Charlotte Hill, whose family owned it for 49 years. Her sister, the estate’s executor, wanted him to have it and even offered to reduce its price, he said.
Of all the projects he has undertaken, Mr. Maslanka said the most challenging was rebuilding the Victorian porch — the wood decking and supports were decaying. Over three years from 2004 to 2007, he supported the balcony with a 32foot steel beam, replaced the columns, poured a 3-footdeep footer and stamped concrete deck and, using the old balusters as templates, cut and installed 83 new balusters. In addition to replacing those on the second floor, he added matching balusters by the front door.
Having 2.7 acres one mile from city limits makes this property unique, he said. But it’s not the reason he has spent more than half of his life working on this house.
“That it has existed as long as it has without really being modified is incredible.”