Mt. Washington renovation is a labor of love

Change is at the heart of the home at 217 Grandview Ave. on Mt. Washington.

A building that was a duplex has become a one-family home. A dining room now is a bedroom. A bedroom has been transformed into dressing area and walk-in closet. Four feet have been added to a dining room by extending an outside wall.

Even the stairs leading to the second-floor family room have been redesigned so the head and neck of a 16-foot-tall giraffe can poke upstairs.

Most important, said owner Marie Mulloney, it is an upside down house. The sleeping-private area is on the first floor, separated from the entrance by a large foyer. The entertaining area, which usually is on ground level, is on the second floor and is dominated by an impressive view of the city.

Very often you call these kind of rooms Florida rooms, but we think it should be called a Pittsburgh room, Mulloney said, motioning to the view.

The house across the street from the Mt. Washington observation platforms is for sale for $999,000.

Mulloney and her late husband, Peter, began changing the home in 1978 and worked on it until 2002. He lived in it when it was a two-family home, but they were eager to change it once the opportunity arose.

It was work that altered the nature of the house by changing the function of rooms. Small changes were within the rooms as well.

Mulloney believes the home is about 100 years old, but said she has heard different estimates from architects, who believe it may be older. A century old or later, it is filled with small closets that have been changed in places.

One was in a bedroom when the home was a duplex. It now is a built-in buffet in a dining room. Another has been changed from a closet to a lighted dinnerware storage and display area.

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Mt. Washington renovation is a labor of love