Historical prizes found by family restoring Kittanning home

When Cliff and Marisa Simmons ventured into the attic and basement of their nearly 150-year-old home in Kittanning, they were like kids opening a Cracker Jack box full of unexpected prizes.

A pile of dance cards from 1904 found behind a stairwell. A fossil. Ten ornate cornices more than 100 years old. A torch charred from use so many decades ago, likely before there was electricity in the home.

It was always my dream to be living in a house like this, Marisa, 56, said. It's fascinating. I love the history of older homes.

The family was looking to move so Cliff, 58, could be closer to Abarta Oil and Gas in O'Hara, Allegheny County, where he is director of operations. Marisa works part time as a store merchandiser in Indiana County. Whitney Simmons, 28, who said she looks forward to one day renovating a home as her parents have done, is a lab tech at Monroeville-based RG Lee Group.

Originally from the Vandergrift area, the family jumped at the chance to move into the old house from their small raised ranch in Indiana County.

When the couple moved to the stately home at 424 N. McKean St. in June, they never expected to find such treasures. Their interest was simply to buy the Italianate-style home and restore it to its earlier glory. They plan to take the pieces of history they've found handmade nails, wooden paneling and other items and incorporate them into their restoration project.

It makes the home more personal, Whitney Simmons said. It's nice to be able to use the things we found and make something new out of them.

Borough archives list the home's original owners as a family of German immigrants named Moesta, who found success in Kittanning in the clothing trade. The home was built in 1872. Traces of writing still linger on an attic wall where the Moesta children scrawled their names in pencil.

The things we found are part of the past of this home, Marisa said. When I look at a home like this, I wonder what were their lives like?

Bringing old and new together is one of the family's aims as they return the home to a style reminiscent of its 19th-century origins a style that won't include the mint green and bubble gum pink paint someone put on its walls long after the Moestas were gone.

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Historical prizes found by family restoring Kittanning home