Historic West Newton house converted to Airbnb rental - TribLIVE

A historic house built in the early 1800s along the Youghiogheny River in West Newton was remodeled and converted into a vacation rental that should be available in August, the owner said.

Real estate developer Gregory K. Barr of Baldwin took what was a long-vacant two-story wood-framed John C. Plumer House along South Water Street and converted it into a six-bedroom home. He wants to make it available via Airbnb to those who might be boating along the river, biking on the Great Allegheny Passage Trail or looking for a weekend respite from the city.

“I fell in love with the house,” said Barr, who paid $45,000 for the property in May 2019. He bought it from the Mon Valley Initiative, a Homestead-based economic development organization.

His company, Barr Property Development Inc., did extensive renovations on the property, which sits a block from the West Newton Bridge.

“We’re still trying to keep the history of the building. We’re following all of the historical preservation codes” in the remodeling, Barr said.

An asterisk might be placed next to the description of the house having six bedrooms. Three are what Barr referred to as “captive bedrooms,” meaning they are accessed by walking through another bedroom. The house has a common living room and kitchen on the first floor.

There is an out building Barr is considering converting into a smokehouse.

Although the house is occupied until August, Barr said, “We’ve been getting a ton of inquiries about (people) staying there.”

West Newton Mayor Mary Popovich said it was great to see a house with historical significance renovated.

“We’re glad he bought it and is giving it the TLC it deserves,” Popovich said.

As an added bonus, the mayor noted, it is on the east side of town, on the opposite side of the river from the Great Allegheny Passage, which attracts bicyclists journeying between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.

“It will give people another reason to come across the bridge” and see the businesses on the other side of town, Popovich said.

Tangled title

The house, built in 1814, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Plumer was a militia captain who fought against the British in the War of 1812. He was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1830 and the state Senate in 1839. He also served as a justice of the peace.

The recent history of the Plumer House is highlighted by the wrangling that occurred both locally and in Harrisburg, before the Mon Valley Initiative could sell the property.

In what seemed like a good deal at the time, the initiative bought the house for $1 from West Newton in August 2011.

The house was seldom used, save for the book sales the West Newton Library would hold in the vacant building. The initiative was in the economic development business, buying distressed properties and selling them with the aim of improving a community.

A snag occurred when the initiative learned it could not legally sell the house because of deed restrictions. The borough used a $1,250 state grant from a 1960s-era program, Project 70, when it bought the property from the Historical Society of West Newton in 1968. The property was to be used “for recreation, conservation and historical purposes as defined by the Pennsylvania Project 70 Land Acquisition and Borrowing Act,” according to the deed filed in Westmoreland County.

The initiative learned after the sale it was not eligible to benefit from the state grant, and the borough did not get prior clearance from the state to sell the property.

State Conservation and Natural Resources officials five years ago offered the borough the option of repaying the $1,250 state grant plus about $17,000 in interest; finding another site for recreation or historic value; or establishing a recreation fund similar to the value of the Plumer House.

West Newton officials chose a different option — getting the General Assembly to adopt a resolution removing the state’s restrictions on the deed to clear the path for the sale to Barr. That was done in December 2017. The Mon Valley Initiative inserted its own set of restrictions on Barr’s use of the property, including requirements that the design of any facade improvements protect the historic significance of the building.

As a result of the sale, the borough got about $18,000, which it used for a new roof on the West Newton gymnasium adjacent to Vine Street Park, said Pam Humenik, borough secretary.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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