One of Wheeling’s Grand Victorian Ladies

One of Wheeling’s grand Victorian ladies is for sale! A once in a lifetime opportunity. This landmark East Wheeling National Historic District townhome dating from 1915 has only had three family owners, including builder businessman John Beltz, the Zavolta family of East Wheeling and current owner, the Cerrone family, founders of West Virginia’s oldest existing consulting engineering company.

The townhome offers the most maintained example of Wheeling’s many illustrious Victorian townhomes that define the city. It is in outstanding shape, a testament to its original builder. The showpiece home is constructed with white brick masonry walls, and was a technological showcase for its day, precociously containing steel beam flooring, forced air ducts and rigid electrical conduits. The home is an excellent example of late Victorian craftmanship and sensibility of free flowing space, with influences of high Victorian, classical revival, Japanese and Art Nouveau styles in woodworking, light fixtures and stained glass. It contains the best preserved array of hand-painted wall and ceiling frescoes as well as the highest amount of quarter sawn oak of all townhomes in the city.

The townhome has a single zone, 10 year old high efficiency gas furnace and central air. The basement is constructed of impermeable brick walls and concrete floors and has never seen water. A washer and dryer there will remain. The kitchen contains floor to ceiling oak cabinetry in the main section as well as a side pantry, as well as a dishwasher and garbage disposal with a gas oven and stove. The living room and dining room both contain gas grills in the fireplaces that are workable with limited repairs as well as pocket doors with dual wood finish. The foyer features hidden cabinets under the stairwell that are ideal for file and record storage.

The second floor contains 2 full bathrooms, a master bedroom/living area with an ensuite bathroom that connects it to a study/bedroom. A rear bedroom has its own full bathroom, and there is a walk in cedar pantry off the second floor hallway. All windows contain solid and functioning storm windows installed in 1989. The roof is an EPDM rolled rubber roof that has never been replaced in the last 40 years and requires little maintenance. All chimneys are capped and in good shape. Attic is a shallow unfinished app. 3-foot high space with insulation in between ceiling beams. Both it and roof are accessible through a roof hatch located in walk-in-closet of rear bedroom. There are also a front porch and side porch with access to the kitchen.

A separate, detached ante-bellum carriage house with 650 SF of finished space on the back of the property dates from the 1850’s and flanks the alley. It contains its own utilities. It was fully converted into an income producing (net $10K to $11K per year) single residence that was again fully renovated in 2017. The ground floor contains two integral garages (one for the main house typically and one that enters into the carriage house kitchen), a large laundry room and a modern, stylish kitchen complete with a gas stove and electric wall oven, garbage disposal and dishwasher. The second floor contains a sunny living room, a stylish fully tiled bathroom and small bedroom. It has a high efficiency gas furnace and central air cooling.

A beautiful courtyard separates the main house from the carriage house and is accessible through a sidewalk along the east side of the main house, a door from the main house’s basement or from the alley through a Dutch arcade with a locked gate. The courtyard contains mature trees, including one of the largest southern magnolias in the city.

This landmark home has been featured prominently in national magazines and TV over its 111 year history and is worthy of only the most appreciative and discerning buyers. A home like this comes on the market only once ever great often!