68 North Harrison Avenue

The 1906 brick Foursquare home of Samuel and Angela Onuska stands on the southeast corner of North Harrison (formerly Seville) and Teece (formerly Bayne) Avenues. It occupies Lot 69 in the “Roseburg Revised Plan of Lots,” a tract of 13 acres between North Fremont and North Bryant Avenues that was subdivided into 94 building lots. Lot 69 was acquired by 51-year old Sarah J. Elste on July 6, 1906, and the house probably was built soon afterward. Sarah’s husband was 53-year old grocer Charles Este, proprietor of the Bellevue Market at 547-549 Lincoln Avenue, now Dietz Floral. In 1904 their daughter Anna married William Sample, who worked at the Bellevue Market and would become co-owner of the business with Clarence Elste in 1907. At Sarah J. Elste’s death in November 1917 she left the house to her daughters but provided for a life estate to her husband Charles. The house remained in the Elste's family until 1930, and had several owners until the mid 1980's. The house then stood empty for decades until April 2016 when it was acquired by the present owners, Samuel and Angela Onuska, who are now undertaking a comprehensive renovation. The Onuskas faced an enormous rehabilitation challenge. Deterioration of the roof had allowed water and snow to accumulate on interior floors, walls, and wood structural members. The box gutters were rusted, rotted, and decayed for 50 percent of their length, allowing additional 68 North Harrison Ave.water to run along the brick walls and cause damage. Approximately half of the concrete window/door sills and lintels were cracked and required replacement. Many of the joist members were either rotted or cracked, the footers for structural columns had sagged, and the stairs and landings were water damaged. Nearly all of the plumbing supply and drain lines had been removed from the house prior to purchase, and presumably, sold for scrap. All of the stained glass had been removed from the house either through salvage or theft. The front porch with its supporting concrete columns is original. The initial task was to evict a family of raccoons who were living on the third floor and had the run of the house. They left on their own when Sam and Angela installed motion sensor lights which encouraged the raccoons to find a quieter and darker home. The next task was to make the building weather tight, requiring replacement of the roof and repairs to the gutters and eaves. All three chimneys were significantly damaged and were disassembled by hand without the use of tools. Some of the cracked radiators were scrapped, several were salvaged for similar homes that needed replacements, and a couple were used on the set of “Last Flag Flying” when the show was filming in Pittsburgh; one pair were retained for use as decorative pieces. All plumbing and wiring were replaced. The Onuskas were able to salvage the pocket doors and plan to reuse them at the entrance to the living room and from the master to the main bath. They demolished and secured the original tile work at the entry and salvaged many decorative windows and the original main staircase wood paneling which will be saved and re-used. Many slabs of marble and stone found in the yard and basement will be re-used for steps, kitchen surfaces, and in certain tile/stone floors. Previous owners had closed off all of the fireplaces, so Sam and Angela opened several and plan to convert them to gas-burning. They will maintain most of the house’s interior layout while making minor modifications to wall locations.