Well, we did it! Traveled ten hours to visit the potential dream house for sale in Pennsylvania. My husband was driving from Tennessee to New York anyway, so I went with him and we took a detour through New Castle to officially look at the house. We spent the day checking out the house and the town, then the next day he drove on to New York after dropping me off at the Pittsburgh airport to fly home.
And - it the house was EVERYTHING I had hoped it would be. And then some. It was a dream house for sure. In fact, seeing it live made me love it even more.
Not only is this a magnificent house - really, just a giant piece of art - but it has barely been altered since it was built in 1912. Old house lovers understand what a big deal this is. Almost all the original parts are still there. No one painted the woodwork. No awful renovations to undo. And the woodwork and floors, etc. are still all in amazing condition. It is a solid house. Made out of the best of everything.
I'll share a few highlight pics from my personal tour:
I could hardly believe I was actually standing in front of the house I've looked at in pictures dozens of times. It is *beautiful.*
There are 16 fireplaces in the house; I was told all work (allegedly).
I was also told the current homeowners (who have lived there 25 years) only ever used a couple of them, because 16 is a lot to take care of if you don't need them (my assumption).
Each one has unique tile patterns.
I believe this one is from a child's room.
The third floor of the house is the servant's quarters.
All through the house these original calling systems are still intact, though I don't think they work anymore.
Just about every room has a beautiful window seat like this.
I couldn't believe what good condition the woodwork was in.
So I found out where the elevator goes to!
I had seen it a photo in one of the solariums on the second floor.
It goes down to the outside, next to the carriage entrance.
"What do you think this is?" the realtor asked us about this untouched contraption in an upstairs bathroom.
Here's a clue: the hole at the top is where your head sticks out.
If your guess was "old school sauna" you would be correct.
This is a sauna heated by about 40 vintage lightbulbs.
I cannot even imagine...
Outside underneath the stone gazebo were two baby deer.
Apparently they are regular visitors.
This was strange, since the house is in the center of town.
And here is the indoor heated pool, with no water (obviously).
We were told it's been in continuous use, but the last time it was drained the owners did not refill as they knew they were planning to sell the house.
Here is a picture of the carriage house from the yard.
The apartment above the garage is a shambles. (Project!😊)
The landscaping looks like it hasn't been done this year; there is a stone wall in a rectangular shape in the above photo that is full of grass. I assume there used to be a garden inside.
I can make that happen!
Here is a view of the house from the side yard.
*sigh*
There is a church next on this side of the house. Not a bad neighbor.
The front porch is quite large and there is beautiful detail (woodwork, stonework, tile) every place your eye goes.
Here is a photo of a room in the carriage house apartment. It only looks lit because of the flash from my camera. It was totally dark up there; all the windows were boarded up and there is no electricity turned on. You can see there is still beautiful woodwork, though!
I wonder how it got to this clearly distressed state? I think the house went up for auction in the 1960s and the windows may have been taken out then. (?)
The current owners never bothered to restore it as the house was plenty big enough without the huge garage apartment being necessary.
There is a double sided fireplace in the apartment that's viewable from two rooms. 💗
Yes, it was the house of my dreams. So here's the catch: New Castle.
As it turns out, apparently no one online has anything nice to say about New Castle for a reason. As we interviewed a lot of random New Castle residents on the city we got a lot of negative feedback. The main reason? Drugs. Apparently there is a significant drug problem in New Castle and all of the issues that go with drugs are problems there. And we were told that the neighborhood and street that the house is on (apparently one of the better neighborhoods in New Castle) is not good at all.
The problem, according to one lady we spoke with, is that years ago as the original millionaires were abandoning the city and the economy was slowly going downhill, the city council in New Castle allowed many of the bigger old homes to be divided into multiple apartments. So now instead of the beautiful old houses attracting single family units, it's multiple lower-income families in each house. And that has changed the feel and atmosphere of the neighborhood as much as you imagine it would.
Many of the apartments on the street are HUD housing, so some of the problem tenants are difficult to relocate.
Not everything everyone had to say was bad though. But the main consensus: New Castle isn't bad as long as you don't live in the city. Which is bad news for this house.
I have witnessed right house, horrible location so many times now it's frustrating.
If only people didn't like New Castle because it's small. Or boring. I'm sure I could tolerate either of those just fine. But possibly dangerous? I'm not sure. That's the part I'm not too clear on. It's obviously a somewhat troubled area, but how bad it actually is I'm not too sure.
Meanwhile, I haven't stopped thinking about this house. Worth it? I don't know.
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