Cute old family towns in the pittsburgh suburbs? (Oakmont, Crafton: sale, low crime)

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by escilade18

For an atmosphere like Doylestown I would definitely recommend Mt. Lebanon. There are houses there easily worth in the millions, and also many houses in your price range. Washington Road(rt. 19) goes through a walkable town center area with many different restaurants and shops as well as having light rail access to the city. Sewickley would be another good idea for the money, but I am less knowledgeable about that area although from the times I have been through there I don't remember seeing an equivalent to Washington Rd.'s business district. Best of luck in your searches

Mt. Lebanon's nice if you don't mind a more bustling suburb (think the start of the Main Line--IE, the Eastern Half of Lower Merion).

For places more directly comparable to Doylestown, I'd recommend Sewickley, Aspinwall, or Edgeworth.

[SteelCityRising]

No love for Oakmont?

[onwardandupward]

Oakmont is great, and definitely has some Victorian houses. I guess I'm a bit put off by the OP's price range, though, as that's a very substantial price range for Pittsburgh. I wonder if the OP has done their homework on prices in this area. I mean, $700-950K in Pittsburgh could buy you a block of Victorian homes.

[greg42]

Yes, just make sure wherever you look you are not overspending on the individual house.

I can't compare those places mentioned. I've been to Princeton many times but it's been way, way too long and I was a kid. I can't really picture it.

My first thought certainly went to Sewickley, though. Even there, I'm not sure you would spend that much on a Victorian in the "village" as they say. Most people in the wider Pittsburgh area (including the Sewickley vicinity) spending $700k and up on a house are having a new one built.

Not that Sewickley for this purpose would include the neighboring boroughs of Edgeworth and Glen Osborne on either side. They all run together and allow for some walking. There are some boutiques and restaurants in downtown Sewickley (more than I feel like there are in Mt Lebanon, for example, which as mentioned doesn't actually have Victorians anyway). I think there's a reasonable chance of upgraded Victorians in that area, but in the Pittsburgh area in general there's always a higher chance of homes that haven't been upgraded. Usually we're talking from the 50s and 60s though. Would be pretty difficult to not be upgraded since Victorian times. (Although I suppose even those could be stuck with 50s and 60s updates in some cases. I wouldn't think it as likely in Sewickley though.)

Shadyside within the city would also be a good fit, as long as you're not looking to utilize the public schools. Even here you may not need that much $$. Oakmont does have a few restaurants and such too; I think you'd have to ratchet the price down a little more. Same with Beaver. $700k would be top of the market there I think. Beaver is also notably farther away from the city.

[robrobrob]

With that budget the only place to look is Sewickley (including parts of Edgeworth and Osborne). The OP wants an victorian in a very well to do neighborhood. Sewickley is the only area that fits the bill.

The most expensive houses in Aspinwall aren't anwhere close to a million. While I love Aspinwall its
business district isn't that great.

Honestly, this is one the threads where there is only one answer.

[ex-burgher]

There are some very large houses in Squirrel Hill and Shadyside which may please the OP, though they may not be Victorian style.

[Bong477]

A Victorian home can actually mean somewhat different things to different people.

The city neighborhoods of Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Regeant Square, Point Breeze, Highland Park, and Schenley Farms will probably have what you are looking for. While city neighborhoods, they are suburban enough for most people. In the case of SH, SS, PB, and SF 800k or so will buy you a large rennovated home but not the nicest in the neighborhood (which can easily run into the 1.5-2 million ballpark). The median price for Squirrel Hill North is somewhere in the 600-700k range last I looked. SS is probably even a little higher if you just look at the big homes and ignore the smaller attached homes and condos. RS and HP are a little cheaper. Remember that property taxes are very high here and should factor into your budget. Probably not drastically different than metro NYC though which is also high.

There are other urban neighborhoods with victorians, a lot of them are attached or somewhat sketchy (or being generous "transitional") and based on your suburban preference probably not up your alley.

Bellevue, Avalon, Ben Avon also fit the bill, but in a completely different price range (far cheaper).

Sewickley is really the only suburb that has victorian style homes in an upscale suburb.

Mt Lebo has some historic homes, but not much in the way of Victorian as pointed out.

[fleetiebelle]

A Victorian home can actually mean somewhat different things to different people.

And architecturally, there's really no such thing as a Victorian home. There were many architectural styles prevalent in the mid to late 19th century: Gothic Revival, Romanesque, Queen Anne, Arts and Crafts, etc. None are actually called "Victorian"

[AnneWest]

While we can suggest the areas to search in, my suggestion is that the OP find a real estate agent asap! Spend a long weekend here and just drive the areas mentioned to see what the neighborhoods look like.
I always have my heart set on things, only to buy something completely different...and loving it.

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

And architecturally, there's really no such thing as a Victorian home. There were many architectural styles prevalent in the mid to late 19th century: Gothic Revival, Romanesque, Queen Anne, Arts and Crafts, etc. None are actually called "Victorian"

The most common Victorian styles in the Pittsburgh area are Italianate, and the closely related Second Empire. While Victorian doesn't refer to one particular style, it does refer to well defined group of styles, which are all distinguished by a high degree of ornamentation, which is in contrast to the cleaner lines of the Georgian and Greek Revival styles that preceded it, and the "Modern" styles that followed.