Nestled on the grounds of a stone quarry that was active in the 1930s, the modern home at 119 Forest Road in Bradford Woods has a style that could be called Quarry Quaint.
Since visiting Fallingwater as a girl, Paula Holzapfel has been fascinated by Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1936 modern masterpiece built over a waterfall in Fayette County.
“I decided that is where I wanted to live,” she recalled.
When she and her husband, Jeff, met with architect Ken Wilkins, she told him the story and he made her dreams come true.
In 1981, contractors custom-built this light-filled house with four bedrooms, 3½ baths and 3,550 square feet of living space. Now it is listed for sale for $775,000 (MLS No. 1549869) with Debbie Platts of Coldwell Banker Realty (www.coldwellbankerhomes.com or 412-366-1600). The property is under contract.
The Holzapfels have lived in the home for 42 years. He starts his mornings sitting quietly in the sunroom with an espresso, watching for wildlife. A wall of windows makes that especially easy. During the winter, the windows add warmth.
“It was built as a passive solar home,“ his wife said. “That means that on sunny days in the winter the sunroom heats up. We keep the dining room patio door open and kitchen windows above the sink open. The warm air rises through the house and the furnace does not come on.”
The property was once known as Graham’s Quarry.
“When President [Franklin] Roosevelt formed the Works Progress Administration in 1935 to get Americans back to work, part of that was about building infrastructure and Graham’s Quarry provided a lot of the stone for that in Pittsburgh,” Mrs. Holzapfel explained.
“So sandstone from our property has built bridges and foundations in Squirrel Hill, Frick Park and Shadyside.”
Forest Road and Forest Road Extension are also part of local railroading history. It’s the old rail bed for the Harmony Short Line, which ran between Harmony and Pittsburgh’s North Side. When the Holzapfels installed landscaping around the house, they would find railroad spikes.
“My favorite thing about the property is the peaceful tranquility that ended up coming from such a labor-intensive, loud history,” she said.
The garden, which has been featured on a Butler County garden tour, faces a 30-foot rock wall on one side. A second-floor deck at that runs along the back of the home also offers wonderful vistas of the property.
“The views are gorgeous all year long. It is like a work of art that is always changing,” said Mrs. Holzapfel.
The property’s Allegheny County assessment is $282,000. Over the last three years, one house has sold in the 100 block of Forest Road for $615,000 in March 2021 (www2.alleghenycounty.us/RealEstate/GeneralInfo.aspx?).
The three-level house includes a walkout basement with sliding doors leading to a patio that faces the old quarry. The owners had a mason build a fireplace there with stone from the quarry.
“The home is contemporary and open but has closed rooms for privacy and introspection,” Mrs. Holzapfel noted.
Their daughter, Heidi, has good memories of listening to the singing of late summer crickets while sitting on the deck. She also loved to curl up by the stone fireplace and watch the snow fall outside the glass doors.
“I think my studio on the ground floor is my favorite room,” Mrs. Holzapfel said, noting that it’s where she paints, draws and works on her sewing machine.
She and her husband are planning to move to Arizona once the home is sold.
“It’s truly a special place. ... I am not sure I have come face to face with the idea that we will be leaving Pittsburgh,” she noted wistfully.
Patricia Sheridan: psheridan@post-gazette.com.
First Published: May 13, 2022, 10:00 a.m.