Carl Canales isn't much of a teetotaler, although his wife, Cecile, has gotten him to drink some healthy green tea from time to time. So why is their North Side row house one of four sites for Queen Victoria's Birthday Celebration, an English high tea and house tour?

Because their 1860s house is the perfect setting for a nice cup of Earl Grey, of course.

The May 17-18 event, a fund-raiser for the Allegheny West Civic Council, will feature a menu created by caterer Linda Iannotta, including Chutney ham tarts, smoked chicken salad tea sandwiches, bleu cheese Craisin walnut quiche squares and chocolate decadence raspberry tarts. (Will they have room for tea?).

The traditional tea replaces the organization's spring house and garden tour, but gardeners won't be disappointed. At 2:30 p.m. each day, Carol Chernega, owner of One Garden at a Time, will discuss "Creating an English Garden" at the Community College of Allegheny County's auditorium on Ridge Avenue. After the presentation, guests will head to one of four restored Victorian houses in the Allegheny West neighborhood for a leisurely tea, with Her Majesty herself, celebrating her 189th birthday, expected to make an appearance.

Most of the houses in this federal, state and city historic district have been restored over the past 25 years, but only one home on this stretch of North Lincoln Street had been redone when Mr. Canales bought his house for $37,600 in 1978. He intended to leave its five apartments and one in the carriage house intact and rent them out. Then he noticed surrounding houses changing hands, too, and he changed his mind:

"When I saw how the neighborhood was changing, that people were restoring these big houses, I decided to live here," he said.

A retired Siemens-Westinghouse engineer, Mr. Canales had renovated other North Side houses as rentals "but nothing like this." He started by repointing the brick on one side wall, which had so many gaps that English ivy was growing inside the dining room. He stripped many layers of paint from the facade's arched window and door trim, then painted it and the brick.

Then he moved indoors, stripping and refinishing the central staircase and woodwork, all walnut. The original stained-glass windows were intact except for one in the entry door (someone threw a brick through it about a month before he bought the house). Luckily, a former co-worker, Linda Janus, had just taken up stained glass. She designed and created a beautiful panel topped by a sun.

Mr. Canales moved into the carriage house in 1980 and the main house in 1982. Together, the two spaces add up to about 7,200 square feet of living space. According to a house history by Carole Peterson, the house was built by Hugh Knox, a flour dealer and coal company manager with a growing family. In the late 1800s, it was used as a men's club.

Today, one of the most impressive rooms is the living room, formerly a double parlor with huge matching walnut mantels. One was removed in the 1950s, according to a former resident, but its twin has been completely restored and frames one of three wood-burning fireplaces in the house.

The dining room features a marble mantel topped by a walnut overmantel that Mr. Canales bought for a third-floor fireplace, but "it was so darn heavy I put it here instead." An even more ornate overmantel in the master bedroom was originally in Max's Allegheny Tavern. Mr. Canales admired it and asked to buy it if its owners ever decided to sell it. Years later, they called to see if he was still interested.

The third working fireplace is on the second floor, in the study where Mr. Canales shows off photos of his longtime hobby -- restoring 1960s Jaguars and Maseratis. Photos and ribbons from auto shows festoon 30 feet of antique walnut paneling and glass-front cabinets that once graced an East End mansion. He bought the complementary walnut mantel from Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.

About 140 years ago, this house was built for a flour dealer. Thirty years ago, it was rebuilt by a retired engineer and classic car buff. In two weeks, it will welcome a long-dead English monarch who lent her name to an architectural style that crossed the ocean. Who wouldn't raise a cup to such a rise in stature?

Tickets for Queen Victoria's Birthday Celebration on May 17-18 are $40 each. Reservations are required by May 14 by calling 412-323-8884 or online at www.alleghenywest.info.