UPDATE: Handyman Special Mansion in Jeannette PA Reduced ~ Sold
206 N 1st St, Jeannette, PA 15644
$30,000 Reduced to $27,500 ~ Pending ~ Sold for $17,000
OHU50K NOTES
Woe is me. OHU50K featured this home earlier this year, and it is still on the market. I never say this, but I think this “handyman special” is a goner. Sadly, handyman special doesn’t begin to describe the condition of this once grand home. I can’t see anyone investing the amount of cash it would take to restore this mansion to even a livable condition. The sale price has been reduced, however, from $52,000 to $30,000.
Jeannette, Pennsylvania, was once known as “Glass City” due to all the glass manufacturers in town at the beginning of the 20th century. As many as seven significant factories operated in Jeannette. Some of the most well known in the history of the glass industry included names like Jeannette Glass; Westmoreland Glass; Fort Pitt Glass; the Pittsburgh Lamp, Brass and Glass Company; American-Saint Gobain. They supplied the U.S. with products ranging from plate glass windows, to milk glass and bottles. It has been estimated that Jeannette once manufactured somewhere between 70-85% of the world’s glass. Unfortunately, the city’s glass industry was one of the first American victims of cheap, foreign competition that made it less expensive to produce glass overseas. Today just two glass factories remain in Jeannette.
I could not find much in my research regarding the history of this handyman special mansion, but one can only assume that it may have originally been the home of a glass industry executive. More recently, Trinity Haven was a nursing home.
According to the City of Jeannette website, “In recent years, the city has become a mecca for local artists and musicians. Furthering the unique culture in Jeannette, many former downtown businesses and department stores have been transformed in to antique galleries and loft apartments. The City now boasts a modern, unique culture which allows the community to build a new identity while progressing into the future.”
Let’s hope 206 N. 1st Street has a future.
REALTOR COMMENTS
OPPORTUNITY !!! ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES!!! UNIQUE Huge home that needs renovation. 10 bedrooms, 3 floors, 2 kitchens. GREAT for multiple families to live in the same home. Endless possibilities to renovate this handyman special. Side of house has an underpass that leads to parking pad in the back. HUGE front porch. Home has a chapel along with a huge front entrance with beautiful stairwell. Make your living space on one floor and have a business on another floor If you want to add a HUGE old mansion to your portfolio of renovations look no further. This is the handyman special you have been waiting for. Property is also zoned commercial.
6 Comments
Chester H Berry
The Library of Congress collection
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey
has four photos that might be of interest to followers of this topic:
A view of the front in better days,
A closeup of the original front doors,
Two photos of the stained glass windows above the landing on the main stairwell.
Sadly, all photos are black and white, but they show interesting detail of the house in better days. The photos are at:
https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.pa3116.photos/?sp=1
where the final digit is a value between 1 and 4.
Hope this is interesting!
Chester H Berry
Additional information: RealtyTrac indicates:
“206 N 1st St is a miscellaneous (commercial) located in Jeannette, PA 15644. Built in 1922, this property features 12,000 sq ft lot, and 5,208 sq ft of living space.”
This is the first date I’ve found for the construction of this house.
The property sold on June 22, 2020, for $17K. Is the new buyer planning on a restoration/reconstruction?
https://www.realtytrac.com/property/pa/jeannette/15644/206-n-1st-st/221218868/
Susan
I try to drive by this house once a month to see if there is any progress on it. After the recent purchase the driveway and porch area were marked with no trespassing signs and it looked like someone had started working on it. Sadly, i haven’t seen any progress on it for several months.
Sally
I hope the new owners restore it to its original beauty. I would love to see updates!
Jan
This house was built by Frank A Maddis in the 1920’s. He owned the Victor brewing company in Jeannette. There is extensive history on him if you Google his name. He lived there until his death in the mid 1950’s.
He went bankrupt after prohibition, but was allowed to remain in his home. The house was converted to a personal care home, not a nursing home. The old brewery in Jeannette still ( barely) stands. I do not know the intentions of the current owner for the house. It needs extensive repairs just to be brought up to code. It sure was a beauty in its day. His initials are in the hand laid terrazzo in the foyer. I know a lot about this house, as my husband and I owned it at one time.
[email protected]
Thank you so much for that fascinating history!