500 S Highland Avenue Information | Racheallee Lacek

500 South Highland Avenue SHADYSIDE

500 South Highland Avenue SHADYSIDE

This stunning condominium showcases the beautiful Richardson Romanesque CIRCA 1890’s architecture, adding to its charm and appeal. The property’s history sets us back to when the cable and rail cars were in use during Pittsburgh’s industrial times making Shadyside a desirable place to live. Pittsburgh city directories published during the 1890s show that I.C. McSpadden was the building contractor. He was contracted to construct a two-story-and-attic stone-house at the corner of South Highland Avenue and Howe Street. The house was to measure 41’10” wide by 62’6”. deep. The once stable or “other outbuilding” was to be set back at least 35’ from Howe Street. The deed also required that “said house shall be of stone or brick, plain or in the Queen Anne style, and to be of the character and quality. This additional (now) Carriage House was built and is part of the property’s HOA. Originally a mansion built in 1890s as history shows, the mansion was converted into a sophisticated three-unit condominium while retaining its historic stone structure in 1977. The exterior has undergone several renovations, preserving its timeless elegance and making it a highly sought-after style among homeowners. 500 S. Highland features decorative fireplaces that add a touch of elegance, with one wood burning in the dining room. The parquet flooring and high ceilings create a luxurious feel throughout. The spacious kitchen has ample storage and newer GE Profile appliances. Relax on the wrap-around porch while enjoying the privacy of three bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms on each floor.

With one-car garage parking and ample street parking, this Shadyside condo offers the perfect location and proximity to hospitals, colleges, Bakery Square, and more. Bike ability, walkability, and public transportation. Walnut and Ellsworth Street shopping district or minutes to East Liberty shops. Quarterly HOA fees include shared water, sewage, and common area maintenance fees. Owner pays gas, electricity, and internet/cable.

History of 500 S Highland Avenue

CONSTRUCTION

Albert L. and Mary G. Klaus commissioned construction of a stone house at 500 South Highland Avenue, including the unit at 5936 Howe Street, in 1893.

The property on which 5936 Howe Street now stands was part of a larger tract of land that John Liggett purchased from L.P.Hitchcock on April 5, 1871 (Allegheny County Deed Book 273, Page 20). Liggett subsequently began selling parts of the property as building lots.

On March 10, 1893, John and Frances B. Liggett, his wife, conveyed property at the southwestern corner of South Highland Avenue and Howe Street to Mrs. Mary G. Klaus of Allegheny City (now the North Side). Mary G. Klaus was the wife of Albert L. Klaus, listed in the 1893 Pittsburgh city directory as a bookkeeper living on Arch Street in Allegheny City (now the North Side).

Mary G. Klaus paid $59,500 for the irregularly shaped lot, which measured 78.18’ along South Highland Avenue, 140.23’ along Howe Street, 64.08’ along the rear lot line, and 140.13’ along the southern lot line. This price, at about 97 cents per square foot, was comparable to costs of other undeveloped properties in Shadyside at the time, and indicates that the property contained no significant structures.

The March 10, 1893 deed included restrictions on development of the property. Only one house was to be built and maintained on the property; any house built was to conform to the setback of the dwelling that was adjoining to the south on South Highland Avenue, and was to be set back at least 25’ from Howe Street. Any stable or other outbuilding was to be set back at least 35’ from Howe Street. The deed also required that “said house shall be of stone or brick, plain or in the Queen Anne style, and to be of the character and quality of a house costing $7000.” These restrictions were to remain with the property until January 1, 1903.

City of Pittsburgh building permit dockets show that on July 18, 1893, Mary G. Klaus received a permit for construction of a twostory-and-attic stone -house at the corner of South Highland Avenue and Howe Street. The house was to measure 41’10” wide by 62’6” deep. Its estimated construction cost was $7500.

Mary G. Klaus hired J.C. McSpadden to construct 500 South Highland Avenue. Pittsburgh city directories published during the 1890’s show that I.C. McSpadden was a building contractor whose business was located on Fourth Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh. McSpadden lived near the Rockwood Station of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

ARCHITECTURAL STYLE

500 South Highland Avenue was constructed in what has come to be known as the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The Richardsonian Romanesque style was widely used in design of public buildings and upper-class and middle-class homes built between the late 1880’s and about 1900. Pittsburgh’s then-new Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, were among the most highly regarded and widely imitated Romanesque buildings in the United States.

Hallmarks of the Richardsonian Romanesque style included use of rough-cut or smooth squared stone for exterior surfaces and ornamentation, and arched window and door openings. Other Richardsonian Romanesque features present at 500 South Highland Avenue include the house’s non-symmetrical shape and corner tower topped by a conical roof.

The house also shows the influence of the Queen Anne style with its . eyebrow dormer facing South Highland Avenue. The oval windows topped by keystones are a feature of the Colonial Revival style, which became popular later in the 1890’s.

The mantels in the unit at 5936 Howe Street, “highly ornamental and of birdseye maple, are more elaborate than those used in most homes built in East End neighborhoods in the early 1890’s. Other interior architectural features are typical of homes built for upper-middle-class and middle-class families in Pittsburgh between about 1885 and 1895. These include the house’s oak newel. posts, with incised ornamentation, bullseyes, and chamfering; and the symmetrical door and window trim with corner blocks.

STABLE CONSTRUCTION

Samuel W. Vandersaal, who acquired 500 South Highland Avenue in 1896, commissioned construction of a stable at the rear of the property in 1901. Pittsburgh building permit dockets show that on May 21+ 1901, Vandersaal received a permit for construction of a two-story brick stable at South Highland Avenue and Howe Street. The stable was tomeasure 20’ wide by 29’10” deep, and have a slate roof. The estimated construction cost was $1,500.

Samuel W. Vandersaal hired James Searight to construct the stable. Searight, a carpenter and contractor, lived at 5902 Harvard Street in East Liberty. His shop was located nearby at 6016 Houston Street. Other work by Searight included construction of 356 Lehigh Avenue in Shadyside and 832 North Euclid Avenue in Highland Park.

NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT

Central Shadyside began to develop as a middle-class “streetcar suburb” after cable car lines were put in place nearby on Fifth Avenue in the early 1880’s. Development accelerated after tracks for more affordable and reliable electric streetcars were laid at the end of the decade. The area had been considered a desirable location for a few decades, because of its clean air and distance from industry.

Pre-streetcar development was mostly limited to construction of large homes on large tracts of land, such as the Sellers mansion at Shady Avenue and Walnut Street. The neighborhood’s isolation then made it practical only for wealthier families who could afford to own a horse and carriage and employ a driver.

The Howe Street-Kentucky Avenue area drew many of its new middle-class residents in the 1880’s and 1890’s from older communities like Allegheny West, Manchester and the Mexican War Streets on the North Side (then Allegheny City), and Oakland and Lawrenceville. These older neighborhoods lost many of their middle-class residents when streetcars made it possible to live further from employment.

Development in all of the East End’s streetcar neighborhoods - also including Shadyside, Highland Park, Point Breeze, and Squirrel Hill - was characterized by a mixture of custom-built homes and speculative construction. Home construction in central Shadyside peaked between 1890 and 1905, with hundreds of Queen Anne, Shingle style, Colonial Revival, and foursquare homes built during this time. The area was also the site of construction of a number of small middle-class apartment buildings.

ALBERT L. AND MARY G. KLAUS

Pittsburgh city directories and U.S. census records provide information on Albert L. and Mary G. Klaus, the first owners of 500 South Highland Avenue (including the present 5936 Howe Street). Albert L. Klaus was born in Pennsylvania in 1851. His mother, Hannah, a Prussian immigrant, was widowed during the 1860’s. Klaus’ father’s name is unknown.

By 1870, Albert L. Klaus was employed as a clerk. His family then rented a house on Peralta Street (then Perry Street)in the Deutchtown section of Allegheny City. Klaus was listed as an assistant teller in the 1872 Pittsburgh city directory, and became a bookkeeper by 1874.

Albert L. Klaus, 24, and his wife, Mary G., 17, were married in 1875. Mary G. Klaus was born in Pennsylvania in March 1858, to parents who had been born in Pennsylvania. After marrying, Albert L. and Mary G. Klaus began living on Chestnut Street in Allegheny City, near the present site of the H.J. Heinz plant. Their first child, Albert, was born in 1877. Following were Elmer in 1878 and Adele in 1884. The couple had another child who did not live long enough to be enumerated in census records.

Pittsburgh directories published between 1880 and 1894 show that Albert L. Klaus was employed by R. Patrick & Company, a bank located on lower Fifth Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh. Directories listed Klaus as a bookkeeper throughout his employment with It. Patrick & Company. Klaus’ job made it possible for him and his family to move to Arch Street in Allegheny City (in the present Allegheny Center Mall area) in about 1888, and may have enabled Albert L. and Mary G. Klaus to have 500 South Highland Avenue built five years later.

It appears likely that the Klauses may have drawn from an additional source of income in order to have 500 South Highland Avenue built. Although Albert L. Klaus, 42 in 1893, had held his job for 13 years, indicating stability and steady income, bookkeepers in the late nineteenth century were generally unable to afford homes approaching the size and elegance of 500 South Highland Avenue. Available records, however, do not appear to document any other activities of Albert L. and Mary G. Klaus that would have provided them with additional income.

Albert L. Klaus left his job with R. Patrick & Company in 1894 or 1895, a short time after 500 South Highland Avenue was built. Klaus was listed in the 1895 Pittsburgh directory as a flour merchant. Klaus, unfortunately, entered this business during a nationwide economic depression that appears to have been particularly hard on persons who had borrowed heavily. Samuel W. Vandersaal, the vice-president of a Pittsburgh natural gas company, acquired the Klaus home at South Highland Avenue and Howe Street in foreclosure proceedings on June 6, 1896.

The Klaus family remained in Pittsburgh for several years after the 1896 foreclosure. The family, however, appears to have experienced continuing difficulty during this time. The family moved frequently, living at 3305 Juliet Street in Oakland in 1897, on Sandusky Street in the present Allegheny Center Mall area in 1898, at 919 West North Avenue in Allegheny West between 1899 and 1901, on West Carson Street in the present Station Square area in 1902, and on Reddour Street in Allegheny City in 1903.

Pittsburgh directory listings and census records indicate that Albert L. Klaus lived apart from his wife and children between 1900 and 1902. During this time, Klaus worked as an insurance agent, bookkeeper, laborer, and car tracer. In 1900, according to census records, Mary G. Klaus and her children, Elmer and Adele, supported themselves by sharing their home on West North Avenue with six boarders.

No members of the Klaus family were listed in Pittsburgh city directories published in 1904 or later years. The family was not enumerated in Pennsylvania in the 1910 census.

SUBSEQUENT PROPERTY TRANSFERS

Samuel W. Vandersaal acquired the former Klaus property at South • Highland Avenue and Howe Street in foreclosure proceedings on June 6, 1896 (deed book and page unknown; documented by incorrect recital in later deed). Title passed to the Dollar Savings Bank in foreclosure proceedings on September 23, 1916, to Walter R. Calverly on April 30, 1919 (Deed Book 1941, Page 630), to Joseph G. and Martha Elizabeth Calverly on February 21, 1920 (Deed Book 2013, Page 155), to Martha Elizabeth Calverly on February 24, 1927 (Deed Book 2314, Page 252), and to Arthur Lubetz, C. Jeffrey Riley, John George, Shorall, and John I. Wechsler on October 29, 1976 (Deed Book 5718, Page 821).

CONDOMINIUM CONVERSION

After purchasing 500 South Highland Avenue, Lubetz, Riley, Shorall, and Wechsler converted the property, including the house, a rear addition to the house, and the stable, into four condominium units (declaration of condominium dated March 24, 1977; Deed Book 5751, Page 577). Lubetz, Riley, Shorall, and Wechsler conveyed the unit at 5936 Howe Street to Francois and Mariella Boller on March 26, 1979 (Deed Book 6082; Page 329). Title passed to Jeffrey M. and Amy Nixon Mindlin on October 17, 1983 (Deed Book 6751, Page 634), and to Jeffiey S. Rinkoff and Janis Lee Rosenthal on September 29, 1986 (Deed Book 7408, Page 580).