Situated at the corner of South Negley and Friendship Avenues in Pittsburgh's Friendship neighborhood, this house sits majestically upon the hill overlooking East Liberty. Built in 1906 by Angus Darragh in the colonial revival style as a single family home for his family and their live in maid. Friendship at the time was a streetcar suburb of Pittsburgh full of wealthy families looking to escape the dirty, busy city. Over the decades the house has had many owners and even more people living in it to make it what it is today.

The Early Decades

Being built in the early 1900's, it was once surrounded on all sides by other large single family houses. After Angus died in the home in 1915, the family held on to it for another 6 years before selling it in 1921 to Van Ara Barrickman. The Barrickman family owned the home for 38 years, the longest time anyone has owned it, before selling it in 1959 shortly after Van died at the age of 85. 

With only two children, the Barrickman family was not as big as the Darragh family. To help cover the costs of upkeep of the house, they boarded people in the upper rooms. Not much is know about the house during this time period, but it is likely that it retained its as built design and layout with the exception of the mudroom and garage being added in the 1950's.

Features Built With

Being a wealthy family in prosperous Pittsburgh in the early 1900's, the house was built with many then new amenities. When built, it was fully wired with electricity. This is evident by inactive knob and tube wiring through the house and the original exterior power line connections. It had a telephone in the study and gas lighting in the basement. Radiator heat powered by a large natural gas boiler was supplemented by 13 fireplaces that helped heat the house in the winter. A full laundry center in the basement and indoor pluming with a 6 gallon tankless Ruud hot water heater provided all the modern conveniences. 

The Rental Era

The 1960's brought many changes to the house and the neighborhood. Pittsburgh passed a new ordinance that allowed large single family homes to be turned into multi-unit rentals. With the rising costs of maintaining the large house, it was sold to a landlord who rented out rooms. The configuration of the home changed depending on the landlord. Some renters shared a common kitchen and bathroom. Other renters had their own kitchen and bathroom. In some cases, a whole floor was rented out to a renter. It remained a rental properly until 1999. 

Changes to the House

Some of the notable changes to the house during this time include the removal of the second staircase from the second floor to the kitchen, through to the basement, to a side door. The butler panty was reconfigured into a bathroom for a 1st floor rental unit. A fire escape was added to the side of the building and a wall was added to the master bath to split it for use by two rental units. The slate roof the house was originally built with was removed and was replaced with an asphalt shingle roof. Many layers of wallpaper and paint were added to the interior during these dark years.

A Spark of Hope

In the late 1980's, Friendship was in decline. Its residents were mostly renters with many of the grand houses starting to fall into disrepair. Friendship Development Associates was a neighborhood community group focused on turning around Friendship's image and protecting the homes and businesses within Friendship. They purchased rental houses, specifically targeting corner properties to help rehabilite Friendship. This home was one of those purchased by FDA in 1998 from a church that ran it as a general rental property. They continued to operate it as a rental property while taking care of the house with a plan of selling it to someone who could make it into a single family home again.  

What happened to Friendship Development Associates?

With Friendship and the surrounding neighborhoods becoming a more desirable to live in area, the role of Friendship Development Associates slowly wound down. In the early 2010's, it was dissolved with many of its duties and roles moving to the new neighborhood community group, Friendship Community Group.

Rebirth as a Single Family Home

The house was tired and worn out after being a rental propery for 40 years when Stacie and Curt Chandler drove by one day in 1999 and noticed the for sale sign out front. On a whim, they stopped and peaked in through the front windows at the large empty house. They fell in love with it and purchased it knowing that it would be a large undertaking to renovate it back to a single family home. 

After moving in with their four children and living in the unfinished basement for a few months, the house was starting to feel more and more like a home as they renovated it room by room. With help from the neighbors, they renovated the first two floors in time for the 2000 Friendship House Tour. They continued to renovate and love the home until 2006 when they moved to Highland Park to renovate another house. 

Renovations and Rediscoveries

The Chandlers renovated the house from top to bottom with a new roof, new electrical, and new pluming throughout the house all the while keeping the historical charm of the house intact. They cleaned the original kitchen's tin ceiling, put the second staircase back in, uncovered the intact pocket doors, removed many layers of wallpaper, and repaired the original windows.

The Modern Years

After the Chandler family brought it back to its former glory, it went through four different owners in 18 years. The different owners all had their own tastes and designs for the house. The first family replaced nearly all of the original windows and repainted the exterior. The second family painted some of the original wood work, replaced its original heating boiler, put a French drain system in the basement, and finished half of the basement as an apartment. The third put in central AC and removed the second staircase. The fourth renovated the kitchen and 2nd floor bath, added the English backyard, refinished the floors with a darker walnut stain, and painted the remaining original interior wood work.

Current Ownership

The current owners, Mike and John, want to restore the house as much as they can to what it once was. They've rebuilt the chimneys, repaired brickwork, replaced the roof with solar, rebuilt the box gutters, insulated the attic and basement, and replaced the failed vinyl windows with fiberglass ones. Their long term plans include repainting the house, replacing the small outdated garage with an attached 2.5 car garage and in-law suite, and reactivating some of the fireplaces. 

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