There is something so enchanting about a home with a name. Braeface, whose name in Gaelic means top or brow of the hill, was built for the family of John C. Slack in 1850 on high ground in Edgeworth.

The home so enthralled author Willa Cather, a party guest there in the early 1900s, that she featured it in her 1925 short story “Uncle Valentine.” 

“We used to have some serious parties here,” said owner Paula Rodgers with a laugh.

The house at 415 Woodland Road in Edgeworth is on the market for $1.3 million (MLS No. 1503460) with Beverly McQuone and Susie Reuter of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (412-528-6075 or www.thepreferredrealty.com).  

The six-bedroom, 4½-bath mansion has a ballroom on the first floor and 2 acres that include a pond, pergola and formal garden.

“This home is a product of an era gone by, offering the new owners an opportunity to enhance it,” McQuone said.

The estate once had a live-in gardener and is surrounded by mature trees and flowering shrubs. “May through June this place is in full bloom,” Rodgers said.

She says Braeface is a house for all seasons.

“My children used to ice skate on the pond in the winter. They also learned to roller blade in around the first floor,” she said, laughing. “It was really lively here.”

Rodgers is only the fourth owner and has lived here for 30 years. She and her late husband raised six children at Braeface.

“One person doesn’t need to bang around in this old house,” she said to explain why she is selling.

True to the era in which it was built, the house has large rooms with beamed ceilings, paneling and leaded-glass windows. The ballroom has a stage and one of several impressive fireplaces. Over the mantel is a plaster relief of a marble Cantoria created by sculptor Luca della Robbia in 1431 for Florence Cathedral in Italy.

“I heard when they were putting together the Hall of Architecture for the Carnegie Museum, Mrs. Slack asked them to take a casting of the Cantoria, which was in the choir loft of the cathedral,” said Rodgers.

She noted the home has excellent flow for entertaining and has hosted two weddings. Its long porch is used for parties.

“It is the porch of porches and runs almost the entire length of the front of the house and circles around to the library,” she said. 

A long gated driveway leads to the home. Rodgers opened up a second driveway to allow access from both Woodland and Beaver roads.

Visitors step first into an impressive, wood-paneled foyer. “We polish the paneling about twice a year,” she said.

In addition to the first-floor ballroom, there is a large library on one side and the dining room on the other. All have original windows.

“All the leaded-glass windows are protected with storm windows, which is the best way to preserve the beautiful glass,” Rodgers said.

The kitchen is in what used to be the butler’s pantry.

“The home does need some restoration,” she admitted. “But I did just put in a new sewer line.”

The property’s Allegheny County assessment is $474,000. Over the last three years, six houses have sold in the 400 block of Woodland Road for prices ranging from $720,000 in November 2021 to nearly $3.03 million in August 2021 (www2.alleghenycounty.us/realestate/GeneralInfo.aspx?).

“This home has good karma because it has always been a happy place filled with children, and I really hope another family will call it home,” she said,

Patricia Sheridan: psheridan@post-gazette.com.

First Published: April 8, 2022, 10:00 a.m.