A storied estate with an impressive architectural pedigree is for sale in Sewickley Heights.
The prominent Pittsburgh architect Benno Janssen designed the former Verner Purnell estate, modeling it after Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello home in Charlottesville, Va., in 1930.
The home is on the market for $3.9 million.
“Living in Sewickley Heights is a lifestyle,” Howard Hanna Sewickley manager Bebe English said. “You don’t have the density that you have in Fox Chapel and you don’t have the rural aspect of Ligonier, and it has a close proximity to Pittsburgh and the airport.”
Architectural nods to Monticello include red brick, prominent columns, a domed rotunda with an emphasis on horticulture and formal and informal gardens.
The grounds boast eight separate and distinct outdoor entertaining spaces.
Verner Purnell was a prominent interior designer who was Janssen’s apprentice. According to Purnell’s 1990 published obituary, he died at the age of 87 and without heirs.
Purnell graduated from what was then Carnegie Tech with a degree in applied art and had his own interior design firm and oversaw the renovation of Heinz Hall.
His former home features a main house and separate guest bungalow, for a total of six bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.
Architect Janssen produced numerous architectural gems in Pittsburgh that remain today — the former Kauffman’s department store, the Mellon Institute, Longue Vue Club, the Pittsburgh Athletic Association and the former Joseph Horne Company.
At the Sewickley Heights house, a new slate roof was recently installed, updating the old roof that had previously leaked on the brick, French Provincial property.
“They’ve maintained the home very well,” English said.
Residents of Sewickley Heights have room to roam. Borough regulations requires that all lots be a minimum of five acres, according to English.
“This was the place people came to from the city to get away from the mills,” English said of how Sewickley Heights caught the eye of Pittsburgh’s elite and upper-crust society.
The brick home boasts French limestone and marble flooring throughout the sprawling interior that features a winter garden rotunda, loggia and formal dining room.
Seven fireplaces, ornate chandeliers, a wine cellar, formal and informal gardens and an in-ground pool occupy a rare, almost level five acres in hilly Sewickley Heights.
Brazilian cherry flooring in the office and marble floors are abundant throughout the lower level of the home, offering more than 8,000 square feet of living space.
“It has featured gardens in each direction. The current co-owner Georgia Pawk installed a pool and outdoor entertaining patio area that is a very nice feature,” English said.
Listing agent Betty Moraca said potential buyers may include a sports figure or person of means.
The type of person who buys an estate? “Someone who doesn’t need one,” English noted. “You just can’t get this (house) today.”
Both realtors attributed the lush grounds as a major selling point.
“She (Pawk) said it was the grounds that sold her on the house when she first looked at it. It’s very welcoming,” English said.
A whimsical dinosaur is visible from the street, the result of an auction win from a fundraiser. The other dinosaur is at a residence in Fox Chapel.
Annual taxes are $36,890, according to online Allegheny County real estate records.
