100 Watkins Ave.

Chris and Kathy Driscoll’s 6,000 square-foot, 16-room Colonial Revival home has aspects of Richardsonian Romanesque style but was designed by architect Marius Rousseau (1868-1958) and built in 1903-06. The interior features woodwork made from quarter-sawn oak, cherry, and hickory.

The massive Colonial Revival style home incorporates aspects of various architectural styles and exhibits unique features such as poured concrete construction and a central ventilation and light portal. Extensive original woodwork, marble, terrazzo, hardwood floors and stained glass can be found throughout the first two of five floors. The house has 8-10 bedrooms and encompasses 5,788 square feet, but the interior living space totals over 9,100 square feet when including the unheated sunrooms and heated basement.

The kitchen features an unusual original glass tile ceiling as well as the original built-in refrigerator. The floor plan remains unaltered from the original design and over 65 original doors and doorknobs have survived, along with a number of original lighting fixtures and 9 fireplaces. Additionally, many other details are original including crystal doorknobs, brass window locks and hinges, and push-button light switches. Two sinks and a six-burner, professional-grade stove fit nicely in the 18- by- 12-foot kitchen. It has furniture-style oak cabinetry, a small butler’s pantry and a third clean-up sink. Ceramic tile decorates the entryway to the formal dining room.

The stately enclosed porch sits behind a dozen columns. Below the second floor roof line, panels of terrazzo tile and stained-glass transoms shine in the sun and create colorful patterns on the terrazzo floor. Large oak doors lead to a small entry with a fleur-de-lis tile pattern and a second set of doors to the formal entry room. The room is breathtaking, with more terrazzo floors, a carved cherry staircase, plaster crown molding and faux marble columns.

The large dining room easily accommodates a table that seats 10. The lavish space features floor-to-ceiling wood paneling, cabinetry and a coffered wainscot. Any free wall space is covered in small mosaic tile that look like wallpaper from across the room. Small light fixtures are placed strategically on intersecting beams and walls, casting a warm glow.

The adjacent living room is home to a square grand piano which Chris is learning to play. The cast-plaster ceiling has wood trim and picture rails. One wall has a bank of accordion windows that opens to the porch.

Upstairs is as luxurious as the first floor. An upstairs bathroom has a domed, stained glass ceiling. A skylight above it illuminates subway tiles and an intricate terrazzo tile floor. A nearby bedroom has built in pew-like seating. French doors open to a small sitting balcony. Another bedroom leads to a second-floor solarium with a bank of seven triple-pane, stained-glass windows.

On the third floor are two more bedrooms and a large playroom. Another large room that had an old kitchen may have been for servants. A staircase leads to attic storage.

The basement has 13-foot ceilings and almost 2-foot thick walls. The fallout shelter has now been converted to an in-home theater. A two-car tandem garage leads to a governor’s driveway on the side of the home.

The back yard, shielded by a row of tall trees, also boasts a large, multilevel deck with carved spindles and gentle turns.

Rousseau designed the home for himself and his family. It is situated on four lots in the “Bellevue Park Plan” laid out bythe Allegheny Real Estate Improvement Companyinthe 1890s. Rousseau designed numerous churches, banks, hotels, social clubs and other buildings in Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania, and later Cleveland, Ohio. His wife had lived on Bayne Avenue and they were married in the Church of the Assumption. Rousseau relocated to Cleveland after losing the home to foreclosure in 1909.

Although Marius Rousseau was not a wealthy man, the craftsmanship and detail throughout the house is equivalent to that of contemporary Pittsburgh mansions and estate homes such as the Henry Frick Mansion. Rousseau, with the opportunity of designing his personal dream home, probably called on many of the skilled craftsmen he worked with on other commissioned projects.

Following the 1909 foreclosure, the house was acquired by Margaret J. McKallip. In later years she rented the house to tenants, including the family of Thomas E. Wilson. It was the childhood home of Charles Wilson, CEO of General Motors and U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The house had only two owners for 90 years after Rousseau, and they left it essentially unchanged except for the removal of a solarium. Beginning in 1996 the property underwent an extensive restoration. The current owners, Chris and Kathy Driscoll, are committed to responsible stewardship of their landmark home and intend to seek a preservation easement to protect it in perpetuity.

The Marius Rousseau House was recognized as an historic landmark by Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation in July 2016 and its listing in the National Register of Historic Places is expected to occur in February 2018. Follow the Marius Rousseau House on Facebook.