{"id":365,"date":"2018-06-13T00:00:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T04:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/?p=365"},"modified":"2018-06-11T12:00:34","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T16:00:34","slug":"buying-here-a-country-estate-in-the-middle-of-shadyside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/2018\/homes-real-estate\/buying-here-a-country-estate-in-the-middle-of-shadyside\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying Here: A country estate in the middle of Shadyside"},"content":{"rendered":"

Justine and Curtis Kossman don\u2019t want to leave this Shadyside house with an indoor pool, underground garage and the charm of a country estate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision to put this house on the market was painful,\u201d Mrs. Kossman said. \u201cWe raised our children here and we love it here, but it is just the two of us much of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The asking price is $3.45 million for 5228 Westminster Place<\/strong> (MLS No. 1279271), a seven-bedroom, 5\u00bd- bath home with a four-car, underground garage, unheard of in Shadyside. It\u2019s listed with Roslyn Neiman of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services (www.howardhanna.com<\/a> or 412-889-5488).<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is beautiful about this lot is that it is four-tenths of an acre and almost all flat,\u201d said Mr. Kossman, a principal with Kossman Development Co. \u201cThat allowed us to take a very traditional house and add to it, creating a modern living space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe house was half the size when we bought it in 1997. We made modifications to the house to combine two bedrooms to make a master suite.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the most desirable additions was an indoor pool that opens up to the outside in the summer. \u201cWe can sit in the Jacuzzi in the winter and watch it snowing outside. It\u2019s surreal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/a>
The living room with marble floor, working fireplace and large bay window just off the center hall at 5228 Westminster Road, Shadyside. (Howard Hanna Real Estate) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The Master bedroom with gas fireplace at 5228 Westminster Road, Shadyside. (Howard Hanna Real Estate) <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The master bath at 5228 Westminster Road, Shadyside. (Howard Hanna Real Estate) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The Family Room with fireplace and pine ceilings at 5228 Westminster, Shadyside. (Howard Hanna Real Estate) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Exterior <\/a>
Exterior of the nearly 100 year old estate at 5228 Westminster Road, Shadyside – asking $3,450,000. (Howard Hanna Real Estate) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The all year round indoor\/ outdoor pool and hot tub at 5228 Westminster Road, Shadyside. (Howard Hanna Real Estate) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The second floor game room off one of the bedroom and loft with exposed wood beams at 5228 Westminster road, Shadyside. (Howard Hanna Real Estate) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Mrs. Kossman said the changes fit their family\u2019s lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow everyone wants the kitchen that opens to the family room and you can watch the kids play. It leads right out to the patio and the pool.\u201d<\/p>\n

The entrance hall and the hall leading to the addition have floors of black and white marble. Off the hall is the cherry-paneled office. A mineral collection displayed on the built-in shelves includes a 50-million-year-old fossil.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend a lot of time in here, Curtis for work, and our son and daughter did a lot of homework in here,\u201d said Mrs. Kossman. <\/p>\n

A formal dining room next to the office features a two-sided fireplace. The opposite side faces the large family room with Douglas fir beams. Other working fireplaces serve the living room, dining room, and master bedroom and bath.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went to great lengths to make the new part look like the old part of the house, so from the outside you can\u2019t tell,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe original house, because of its age, had a lot of black soot on it,\u201d Mr. Kossman said.<\/p>\n

He matched the old brick to new brick and had the house acid-washed so it would blend. The developer also replaced the slate roof after a tree fell on the house. \u201cThat is a lifetime roof,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really wanted to maintain the architectural integrity of the house,\u201d said Mrs. Kossman.<\/p>\n

The kitchen includes a Sub-Zero freezer and refrigerator and two dishwashers as well as an island with gas cooktop and double oven. \u201cIt\u2019s a big, intimate kitchen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There is a theater room off the family room with a screen that drops from the ceiling. A steam room with a rain shower services the pool area, which has its own security system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pool has more security than the house,\u201d Mrs. Kossman said \u201cNo one can get from the house to the pool without me knowing about it. It was all about keeping the kids safe.\u201d <\/p>\n

By the pool is a patio with tables, umbrellas and hook-ups for an outdoor kitchen. Behind it is a grassy area with a 100-year-old Japanese maple tree and an enclosed garden. \u201cIt\u2019s so private,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The family room is linked to the second floor by a steam-bent spiral staircase made of cherry wood. A game room at the top was built for the Kossman children. Exposed wood trusses and metal joinery give it a contemporary feel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like showing structural integrity in architecture,\u201d Mr. Kossman said.<\/p>\n

Off the playroom loft area is a large bedroom with a bathroom. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis house really should have a family in it. It\u2019s a very livable home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Patricia Sheridan: psheridan@post-gazette.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Justine and Curtis Kossman don\u2019t want to leave this Shadyside house with an indoor pool, underground garage and the charm of a country estate. \u201cThe decision to put this house on the market was painful,\u201d Mrs. Kossman said. \u201cWe raised our children here and we love it here, but it is just the two of… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[18],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2018\/06\/DISTINCTIONS_BH_SHADYSIDE_backyard.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","wps_subtitle":"The asking price is $3.45 million for 5228 Westminster Place, a seven-bedroom, 5\u00bd- bath home with a four-car, underground garage.","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9EDbT-5T","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":375,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions\/375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/distinction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}