{"id":293181,"date":"2026-09-24T18:54:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/293181\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T18:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T18:54:15","slug":"feeling-nebby-a-surprise-home-purchase-turned-forever-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/293181\/","title":{"rendered":"Feeling Nebby: A surprise home purchase turned forever home"},"content":{"rendered":"

A surprise house purchase changed everything for one North Side family. In this episode of Feeling Nebby<\/a> with Houses of Pittsburgh<\/a>, we\u2019re in Brighton Heights<\/a> to see the transformation of a once-condemned home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After living all over the City of Pittsburgh in the early years of their marriage, Ashley and John Caramanica found their forever home. To be more precise, John found it, purchased it in a sheriff\u2019s sale and surprised his then-eight-months-pregnant wife with the news. He had a vision for the home. Though it was in shambles at the time, Ashley says she trusted him. A general contractor by trade, John brought the house down to the studs and rebuilt it into their dream home for their growing family. Now 11 years later, the couple are thrilled to live in a rescued, century-old home in a neighborhood they love.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Caramanica\u2019s home was built in 1914 as a spec house<\/a> by a developer who was a descendent of industrialist Samuel P. Harbison. He made his fortune supplying bricks to create blast furnaces, including the Lucy Furnace by Carnegie Steel. The Harbison mansion once stood across from the Caramanica\u2019s house, but was torn down in the 1970s and replaced by the Harbison housing development.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the construction process, John and Ashley met the original builder\u2019s granddaughter and learned more about the home\u2019s history. Her family had lived in the house, and she was even married there. Those connections gave the renovation an even greater sense of history.<\/p>\n

At some point in its lifetime, the home had been converted into three apartments, like so many large North Side homes. John reverted the first two floors back into their main living spaces, opening up what had once been a parlor and living room, into a large great room made up of a living room space, dining area and kitchen where the family now spends most of its time. He then transformed the former kitchen and butler\u2019s pantry into Ashley\u2019s work-from-home office and a full bathroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The most surprising discovery came when John began working on the staircase. In the process of converting the house into apartments, a once grand staircase had been closed off and turned into a utility closet. John re-created the original stairs and uncovered beautiful paneling along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Caramanica house will be on the upcoming Brighton Heights House Tour<\/a> on Saturday, Oct. 3, that I\u2019m helping to plan for my neighborhood. It is one of nine properties opening its doors for the tour. Proceeds from the tour support events like a light-up night, our neighborhood 5K, book fair and more. Tickets are on sale now<\/a> and will be available on the day of the tour starting at Legion Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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