Matt Paxton is used to working with older folks who are downsizing their homes and need help sorting through the most important things they own. It’s not often that he comes across a relatively young couple who are consolidating their separate lives.
And yet there Paxton was Monday in O’Hara, setting up shop in Linda Schultz and Terry Doloughty’s gorgeous home surrounded by woods. He was there filming an episode of the PBS series “The Legacy List with Matt Paxton,” a show in which the “Hoarders” veteran helps people downsize while also teaching them about some of the historically fascinating items in their possession.
Paxton and his “Legacy List” crew had been in Pittsburgh for three days when a Post-Gazette reporter and photographer stopped by for a set visit. The dining room was filled with lights and sound equipment as Paxton, Schultz and Doloughty prepared to film the episode’s final scene in which Paxton walked the couple through some of the more unique items in their home, including their direct links to Pittsburgh’s past.
“This isn’t a show about celebrities,” Paxton said. “We don’t really know what we’re walking into, and I like that. I like being surprised. I have to be honest: Pittsburgh was never on my map. I travel the country and get to see a lot of cool things.
“This is an amazing city. The passion about the past and the future — this is a city to come to.”
“Legacy List” was in Columbus, Ohio, before heading here to shoot this episode for its upcoming third season that will air in either January or February. The closest Paxton had come to Pittsburgh for “Legacy List” was a season two episode in Lancaster County.
Schultz and Doloughty were chosen out of hundreds of submissions because it was clear how much “this family really takes pride in their Pittsburgh heritage,” Paxton said.
They met when Schultz ran a nonprofit and Doloughty worked as a nonprofit consultant before falling in love and tying the knot two years ago. She recently retired while he is still the owner and principal consultant at B.O.S.S. Consulting. Doloughty moved from a little house on Polish Hill and Schultz from Sewickley and Hampton to this forest-flanked dream house in O’Hara.
Family history is a huge part of both their lives. His family came to Pittsburgh in the mid-1850s to escape the potato famine in Ireland and settled on Polish Hill. She has “thousands and thousands of photographs” that include 38 albums of pictures taken by her family.
Though they wouldn’t discuss items that will be featured on the show for the sake of spoilers, he has a sizable collection of vintage tools, knives and steelwork, while she has amassed quite a few Guatemalan textiles and miniatures over the years.
“We collect other things that are unique and interesting... that speak about what life was like 100 years ago,” Schultz said.
The couple found “Legacy List” via Facebook and applied to be on it for help consolidating their lives.
“We’ve had these items with us for so long they’ve not only become part of our history, but also part of our normal,” Doloughty said. “And having outside sets of eyes to look at these things is a great way for us to re-experience everything.”
Both of them enjoyed their “Legacy List” experience. Schultz said she would “encourage anybody else in a similar situation who needs to downsize or consolidate to apply.” Doloughty emphasized his belief that “family history has value” and he hopes his “Legacy List” appearance will inspire others to send in their stories.
Paxton, meanwhile, described Schultz and Doloughty as being “as Pittsburgh as Pittsburgh gets.” He praised the “mindset of innovation” that he felt while sampling local cuisine and enjoyed a trip to the Heinz History Center to learn more about the city’s ethnic roots.
He would love to do another “Legacy List” episode in Pittsburgh.
“I want people to watch it and make their own legacy list,” Paxton said. “I want them to dig into their own family history. Not only is this a city with a lot of history, but it’s documented really well. That’s kind of rare.”
Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxelburgh.
First Published: September 2, 2021, 11:00 a.m.
